I think that I was not the target audience for this one. There was a lot of good: complex characters, an overarching conflict, and a setting that really came to life. But for some reason, it all felt very "ladies who lunch" to me, a very First World-view of a complex, diverse world. The author seemed to write a very authentic teacher/school district dynamic, but she also made me uncomfortable when she tried to write outside of a white gaze.

I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-20 from my title feedback view!

I honestly expected this to be a candid look at the public school system with all the good and bad added. In that respect, I wasn't disappointed. The beginning of the book starts out very slow, and the writing style is a bit stilted, but the characterization is good; it does give you a sense of what the teachers are like both on and off the job. I liked the mix of dedicated teachers, as well as those who aren't really trying. The addition of a new superintendent was brilliant.

Working in education, I had high hopes for this book! The struggle to survive yet another school year can be brutal, especially for these Texas High School teachers. Giving insight to the hierarchy and constant clustermuck that is working in education, it will certainly make you feel less alone if you've ever been an overworked, underpaid educator - but won't necessarily scratch the itch for brightening up the dire state of public education!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for advanced access to this title!

This book provided a very interesting and telling look at the public education system through the lens of teachers. Although I am not a teacher, I imagine it was a fairly accurate portrayal of what teachers and administrators have to go through on a day-to-day basis. It was eye opening but depressing! The story had a cast of colorful characters that were all individually interesting, but overall it was hard to keep them all straight at times. It dragged a bit for me but all in all was a good book. I definitely recommend this book to anyone in public education as they will definitely relate!!
Thanks to Atria, Roxanna Elden and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this book... but I didn’t. I loved the description! I’m a teacher by day, so I loved the idea of it being set in a school, teacher drama, etc. And it was fine. Just fine. I felt the concept could have been so good, and it just fell a little flat.

Funny, heartwarming, and difficult to read at times, as the situations teachers often find themselves in can be surprisingly bleak, especially reading this in the midst of a pandemic.

This is school satire at its finest. I have been a teacher of 10 years and I could relate to every character in this book in some way. It just goes to show that every school is the same. This is a quick book and one that will have every teacher chuckling at PD sessions to an overzealous new teacher.

Adequate Yearly Progress is at its core an examination of what it's like to be a teacher today. Around that core , there is a story built on humor as it explores the various experiences of teachers at a struggling high school in Texas. Chapters gave insight into why each teacher was the way they were, what secrets these teachers were carrying, and how they'd figured out how to get through. Amidst all of this, they have a consultant working with their school to improve things, and well, the methods they have chosen are way off the mark. This was a book where I would chuckle as I read, but I also would stop and remember there was truth in what was being written. That blend is what made this a unique and important read.

What a nice find. This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic.

If you’re a teacher going on spring break who will miss your colleagues, Roxanna Elden’s debut novel Adequate Yearly Progress will fill that void. Billed as The Office but set in an urban high school”, we are introduced to the teachers from Brae Hill Valley in a large Texas city.





We meet Lena, a young spoken-word poet who moved from Philadelphia and is struggling to get her students engaged in English class. Mrs. Reynolds-Washington and Mrs. Friedman-Katz “two middle-aged women shared a love of tremendous jewelry, brightly colored pantsuits, and other people’s business” love to gossip and judge others.



KayTee is an idealistic second-year teacher from TeachCorps who writes an anonymous blog about her experiences that goes viral. Dedicated biology teacher Hernan is Lena’s best friend looking for more than friendship. Maybelline is an uber-organized math teacher raising her young daughter on her own. Football coach Ray just wants to be left alone to win football games.



A new superintendent is hired for the city, a media superstar who has written a best-selling book and loves the spotlight. He announces a new program- Believers Make Achievers Zone, a group of schools with “poor students and poor test scores who will be receiving special attention” from him.



That special attention comes in the form of a consultant from TransformationalChangeAdvocacyConsultingPartners, whose main objective seems to be getting teachers to write a different Curriculum Standard of the Day in large letters on the white board each day (such as ALL STUDENTS ON TASK, ALL THE TIME).



Teachers are now required to keep extensive binders filled with abundant data about the students that will be used to “innovate and catalyze disruptive change”. There is now an Office for Oversight of Binders and Evidence of Implementation, which makes math teacher Maybelline very happy as she is a big fan of organized data in binders.



Adequate Yearly Progress is laugh-out funny in parts (the comments on KayTee’s blog are especially hilarious), somber in other parts, and you don’t have to be a teacher to enjoy this clever workplace book (but if you are, you will enjoy it on another level). Like The Cactus League, Eldens manages to make each interesting character’s story stand out as they intersect. Fans of Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom will enjoy it.

Adequate Yearly Progress is a novel about a group of teachers in a struggling Texas High School. When a new superintendent comes to town, they are suddenly overwhelmed with new policies and expectations in an already demanding job.

As a teacher myself, I found many of the teacher's problems to be relatable and laughed out loud a few times. I could tell that the author also had experience working in schools, and used that experience to shape this book. However, the way she wrote some of the characters felt a bit off to me. I feel like she relied a little too heavily on stereotypes, and her attempts to deal with racial issues in the school felt clunky. Because of that, I'm not sure that I would recommend this book to others.

Working in a school, I see some of the teaching guidelines and buzzwords in behind-the-scenes emails. I’m also privy to some of the unexpected student behaviors (good and bad). I’m not a teacher though, and hearing the full brunt of some expectations and experiences in this book may have made me a bit glad of that.

While the teachers in this book mostly chose to work at a school with mostly disadvantaged children to make a difference, the year they get a famous educational consultant as their superintendent is the year their "making a difference" backfires for many of them. There had always been a degree of teaching-to-the-test and working with unmotivated students; now their "Believer Score" is paramount to their career success, because "Believers make Achievers."

All the inspirational stories, crazy acronyms, and metrics for diluting all of the teachers’ work into success scores and measurable results are laughable. My kids came running down the hall to see what I was laughing about when I came across the mention of the "starfish story." I’ve heard the story at multiple motivational seminars and sales trainings, which just goes to show how much their school district is turning into a number-generating, success-driven clearinghouse for their customers, I mean, students.

Overall, this book (the first novel by an author with other non-fiction educational texts) is an amusing satire, with a few too many relatable anecdotes to be funny all the time. I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I was pulling for most of the teachers (we didn’t know individual students as much), but most of their stereotypes were pretty clear. I’d recommend his book to most who work in the educational field, but remember to go into it as I believe it was intended – a funny satire.

Adequate Yearly Progress is an extraordinary look into a year in the lives of teachers and administrators at a high school in Texas. It shows the pressures which are put on teachers having their students score high enough on the yearly standardized test and the complications this pressure puts on them, administrators whose livelihood depends on high scores and the students.

Although filled with humor, the book explores the teacher's perspectives, both good and bad, in their classes, their relationships with other teachers as well as their relationships with their students and the administration.
At Brae Hill Valley High School a new curriculum is introduced on the first day of classes to hopefully increase standardized test scores at the end of the year. Not many of the teachers are happy about the changes.

Lena Wright is an English teacher with a flair for poetry. Because she is not from Brae Hill she is looked down upon by some of the faculty and the students. She will face many challenges this year, both personal and professional.

Hernan Hernandez is a biology teacher whose students love him. His classroom, a welcoming zone to both students and teachers has a classroom filled with plants. Bucking the system Hernan has never joined the teacher's union. Sees no reason to. And he has a crush on Lena.

Maybelline Galang is a math teacher, a single parent whose daughter (with the physical education teacher) illegally goes to school in another school district. Everything in Maybelline's life is organized and by the book. There is no coloring outside the lines. She cannot tolerate either the teachers or administrators who slack off. And because of her, someone will not be coming back the following year.

Kaytee Mahoney is a history teacher with a secret blog. At the beginning of the year the blog is filled with inspiring dialogue. Until she is involved in an incident which will not only shake her to her core, but will make her question whether she is even in the right profession.

The story puts into perspective the dilemma teachers and administrators have as to teaching to pass a test versus teaching to learn. It shows the trials and tribulations of dealing with difficult children as well as what this type of pressure can do to their personal lives.

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #AdequateYearlyProgress #RoxannaElden for the advanced copy.

This novel was difficult for me to get through it as I thought I would like it more than I actually did. This novel showed a reasonable insight into classrooms in high schools today, and exactly what teachers go through on a daily basis. This book didn't evoke any type of emotion for me, I read it just to read it and move onto my next book.

Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden

This book is fun read about a group of Texas High School teachers and their daily struggles to survive yet another school year. To get the inside look, I knew that this book had to be written by none other than an educator as well. Though this is a fiction read, the message is clear, timely and relevant. There is a current battle between the public education system and the charter school system and what is the best education format for our children. This is a well researched novel and loved the writing style as well as the motley crew of characters in this novel. I really enjoyed it for the light fun read, the relevancy of the issues presented and overall an entertaining read.

This is hilarious and also waaaay too accurate a depiction of schools today. The Office meets education was definitely an accurate description! I enjoyed reading this, but it mirrored my experience a bit too much to be considered light reading. :)

This book gives a glimpse of the challenges and pressures teachers face. The story focuses on an inner city school and it’s teachers, but I’m sure all teachers would find this book relatable in one way or another.
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This story is told from the perspective of several different high school teachers as well as the school principal. They’re all facing the common pressure of their students’ standardized performance testing as well as the challenges of their personal lives. Add to this a crazy school superintendent who sees himself as a celebrity and is therefore more concerned about his public persona than the teachers and students; it’s a recipe for disaster. He was so concerned about implementing what he saw as a revolutionary change (that would make him look good) to how this school operated and had such a one size fits all approach that he had no desire to see what was really important. I was frustrated for these teachers even though they’re fictional because I imagine this happens to teachers in real life all too often. I guess it’s needless to say that I was pretty immersed in this story.
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While I already appreciate and admire my kids’ teachers, the insight this book provides takes it to another level. There are aspects of
the functioning of schools that school “hierarchy” should take a step back from. Chill out with the standardized tests for one thing. Yes, certain things need to be gauged and they do provide some degree of insight for teachers about their students, but is all the pressure on teachers and students necessary? The vast majority of teachers are not trying to get by by the skin of their teeth. Hats off to you, teachers!
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This is an entertaining read with a great style of writing that’ll give you a new appreciation for teachers.

I really enjoyed this novel, mostly for the fact that I could relate to the teachers. If anyone wants to know what teachers go through, I highly suggest to pick up this book.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of it. Despite relating to the characters as teachers, I didn't care for their personal life--I was indifferent through it all. I tried to connect with them, but I just didn't care for them.

I expected more teaching dynamics, where teachers bounded together to fight this system against them, but in turn, I got a lot of the teachers' love life, an assistant banding up against the principal and another teacher. I believe if the book had focused on Kaytee, one of the newer teachers and the other teachers trying to help her out, giving their own tips, this book would have been more to my liking.

Also, this book had a lot of point of views. It was a surprise I didn't get lost, since the author was able to give a unique voice to each character, but at the same time, it made it seem all over the place. There were a lot of topics and what should have been the focus of the story ended up being brushed off.

Overall, Adequate Yearly Progress is an eye-opener on the teaching field. I loved that I got tips on teaching from it, and was able to see how I should be grateful of the school I work at and the students I have because it's not like I have it anywhere else.

I worked in public education for twelve years and during that time I had a close friend who was a counselor in our Guidance Office. We would have lunch together every day and talk about how we needed to write a book about public education because people would never believe the things we have to go through on a daily basis.

In fact we stated keeping a list of things that would happen in our office each year and at the end of the school year we would go back and reflect on the year of weird things we had to deal with. The list was long every single year and the incidents increasingly humorous and at the same time sad.

When I saw this book was coming out and was written by a former educator, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!

Summary
Roxanna Elden’s satire is a brilliantly entertaining and moving look at our education system.

Each new school year brings familiar challenges to Brae Hill Valley, a struggling high school in one the biggest cities in Texas. But the teachers also face plenty of personal challenges and this year, they may finally spill over into the classroom.

English teacher Lena Wright, a spoken-word poet, can never seem to truly connect with her students. Hernan D. Hernandez is confident in front of his biology classes, but tongue-tied around the woman he most wants to impress. Down the hall, math teacher Maybelline Galang focuses on the numbers as she struggles to parent her daughter, while Coach Ray hustles his troubled football team toward another winning season. Recording it all is idealistic second-year history teacher Kaytee Mahoney, whose anonymous blog gains new readers by the day as it drifts ever further from her in-class reality. And this year, a new superintendent is determined to leave his own mark on the school—even if that means shutting the whole place down. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
When I was first pitched this book, I actually thought it was going to be non-fiction but then it actually ended up being fiction, although the accuracy of the story was spot on. I have witnessed so much of the things that went on in this book from one degree or another. I mean, there was just so much realness in this book when it came to the characters, the issues of standardized testing, the pressures from administration….so much realness that I was having a hard time believing that it was a work of fiction. Because seriously people if you don’t work in education, you would think this is fabricated, but if you work in education you know it absolutely is NOT a fabrication that educators face.

I will say that some of the writing in this book was a little trite with underdeveloped dialogue, as a whole I was captivated by the truth of the classroom and education system as a whole. I know that some people have argued that this book attempts to make light of the state of our schools and the issues, and while yes the book is humorous at times, I do not think it’s meant to make light of the issues at all. Having worked in education myself, you almost have to laugh at how ridiculous the situation is otherwise you just get burned out.

To be honest, burn out was one of the reasons I left public education when I had my son. I love the students but the expectations and undermining of the ‘rules’ to achieve graduation quotas or state testing requirements goes against my personal moral code. This book captured all those issues and so much more. If you are a teacher or educator you absolutely need to read this book. While it is fiction, there can be no denying there is truth in its fundamental message.

Book Info and Rating
Paperback, 400 pages
Published February 11th 2020 by Atria Books
ISBN 1982135026 (ISBN13: 9781982135027)
Free review copy provided by, Atria Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 5 stars
Genre: contempo fiction, humor, general fiction, satire