The Schools Our Children Deserve

Two forces now dominate the theory and practice of American education. The first, using the language of "tougher standards" and "accountability," is a heavy-handed, top-down, test-driven version of school reform which assumes that harder is always better. The second is an aggressive traditionalism t [...]
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Two forces now dominate the theory and practice of American education. The first, using the language of "tougher standards" and "accountability," is a heavy-handed, top-down, test-driven version of school reform which assumes that harder is always better. The second is an aggressive traditionalism that has resulted in treating today's students like their counterparts were treated in years gone by -- as passive receptacles into which facts and skills are poured. Both doctrines are accepted on faith by politicians, parents, and pundits -- and both come in for sharp scrutiny by Alfie Kohn, the author of paradigm-shattering books on competition and rewards. Drawing on a wealth of research, Kohn argues that the demand for tougher standards reflects a lack of understanding about how and why children actually learn. When we encourage students to become obsessed with how well they're doing in school, they often lose interest in what they're doing, and ultimately they think less deeply. Worse, when we use standardized tests to measure how well they're doing, we squeeze the intellectual life out of classrooms and turn them into test-prep centers. The Schools Our Children Deserve is Alfie Kohn's most timely and powerful work. Written for a general audience of parents and all those concerned with education reform, the book offers an ambitious yet practical vision of what should replace the "bunch o' facts" model in our children's classrooms. It is guaranteed to change the way readers think about school.