Editor’s Pick: “I Got Schooled” by M. Night Shyamalan (Simon & Schuster, 2013)

He’s best known as one of the highest grossing screenwriters and directors in the world, responsible for the 1999 cultural phenomenon, “The Sixth Sense” and many other blockbusters. But aside from M. Night Shyamalan’s professional pursuits and his wife and three daughters, his greatest passion is education. His self-named foundation seeks to “[close] the educational achievement gap” using five keys that Shyamalan uncovers in his 2013 book, “I Got Schooled: The Unlikely Story of How a Moonlighting Movie Maker Learned the Five Keys to Closing America’s Education Gap.”

Over the course of several years, Shyamalan visited high achieving public and private schools in America and met with teachers, administrators, and other education experts to get the bottom of why some schools succeed and others fail. What he found challenges conventional wisdom and asserts that America’s education system can and must be fixed, using a template for the success of all students, regardless of financial status or geographic location.

Although Shyamalan confesses early on to his liberal political leanings, it becomes clear that he is truly in pursuit of the truth and that, for him, education trumps politics. His transparency and thoroughness are apparent as he relates his experiences meeting directly with students and gifted teachers to bust through old biases and break down the gridlock of public education today.

Discover more of my Editor’s Picks here.