"Dead Last: The Triumph of Character, Passion, and Teamwork in Education," by Stephen Wallis, Author

Ellicott City, MD, May 12, 2022 --(PR.com)-- A new book by a veteran national award-winning principal cites the significant role that character plays, as well as the essential values that support total school success.

Dead Last: The Triumph of Character, Passion, and Teamwork in Education, stephenwallisauthor.com, by Stephen Wallis, is uniquely presented by an in-the-trenches successful and nationally recognized school principal, who never subscribed to the education orthodoxy of appeasement, identity politics, and excuses.

Dead Last distills Wallis’ near-four decade education experience in and out of the classroom, including his research, published writings, and work with national think tanks, Maryland state legislature, and the United States Congress on efforts to advance teaching excellence, student academic performance, and parent satisfaction with American K-12 schools. His experience and success offer readers insights into the following:

• The characteristics of successful schools

• His view that our children’s classrooms — and the teaching and learning that take place within them — should and can be upheld as sacrosanct

• The belief that where character is the soul of one’s school, meaningful teaching and learning rooted in truth and historical fact is the surest route to an informed patriotism.

• How to understand clearly the pathologies associated with failing, in-crisis schools, as well as meaningful steps to address disruptive, threatening student behavior; failing academic test scores; low staff morale; racial unrest; inferior instruction; and parent exasperation with the incompetence of school officials.

• The most important goals and values that underscore teaching excellence and student academic achievement

• An understanding of and suggested answers to hot-button issues in American education, including school choice, school safety & security, wokeness and critical race theory, parenting and schools, the national academic achievement gap, and vocational education.

• The essential importance of character, passion, and teamwork in the success of American K-12 schools.

• Dead Last is an American success story — a failing school that came to believe in itself, finding its success, demonstrating the importance of character, grit, traditional values, respect, and a no-nonsense attitude.

One of the excerpts from the book by Stephen Wallis says, “Kids and their families deserve a quality education. Dead Last is a book about hard-working staff — ordinary people having accomplished something extraordinary, in the process discovering a kind of rebirth, a new beginning in how they began to look at themselves to become more purposeful, more meaningful in the lives of others. Done right, schools reinforce traditional American family values that propel effective instruction and school-wide student achievement — in the classroom and on the field. Done wrong, we consign a generation of youngsters to a lifetime of ignorance, insecurity, and failure. We’re better than that.”

Wallis is a retired high school English teacher and school administrator. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Federation of School Administrators Distinguished Leadership Award, which cited him among “the top eight school principals in the nation.” His publications include chapters in books by The Heritage Foundation and The Calvert Institute of Public Policy. He was co-founder and president of the proposed Business Preparatory Institute, a charter high school for urban youths.

Dead Last: The Triumph of Character, Passion, and Teamwork in Education is available on Amazon, Book-A-Million and Barnes & Noble.

For more information, contact Wallis at the website or telephone number provided.