The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" [Hardcover]

Teacher-turned-writer Alfie Kohn takes on traditional-education giants like E.D. Hirsch, along with practically every state government "raising the bar" and toughening standards, in this attack on the back-to-basics movement. An established critic of America's fixation on grades and test scores, Kohn has written a detailed, methodical treatise that accuses politicians and educators of replacing John Dewey, the father of public education, with test-tutoring king Stanley Kaplan. The current standards movement that demands students learn a list of dates and facts prepares kids for Jeopardy, Kohn argues, not real life. He joins David C. Berliner and Bruce J. Biddle (The Manufactured Crisis) in questioning whether today's schools are truly floundering, warning that romantic memories of the old school, with its tests, worksheets, and drills, are purely that--memories romanticized by time and perception.

Kohn backs up his argument with research and observations from like-minded reformers such as Deborah Meier, but his position is nothing new. Rather, it is a volley back at traditionalists, a direct counter to Hirsch's 1996 book The Schools We Need, which Kohn critically dissects at length, even accusing Hirsch of incorrectly generalizing footnoted research. Kohn also takes issue with the backlash against the whole-language approach to reading instruction (though this argument wears thin, given that many schools have already moved beyond the debate to use a combination of whole language and phonics). The overall message of The Schools Our Children Deserve is a valid cautionary tale about the future of American education that deserves to be heard out by teachers, policymakers, and parents. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

A devout critic of the American educational system's dependence on grades and test scores, Kohn (Punished by Rewards, etc.) has long questioned the priority given to basics, rote learning and other "mind-numbing strategies" in the traditional classroom. In his latest assessment, he advocates challenging students to relinquish their passive role in the learning process and to think critically. Tougher standards proposed by politicians and the business community, the author notes, may not be an effective cure-all since they put increased demands on students already overwhelmed by an abundance of facts and homework. "The difference between learning and achievement is hard enough to grasp; the difference between doing well and doing better than others is especially confusing in a society so obsessed with being Number One that the ideas of excellence and winning have been thoroughly conflated," he writes. While some sectors of American schools may be troubled, Kohn concludes, the overall state of the educational system is in better shape than previously thought, in part because negative statistics are blown out of proportion, and partly because standardized tests are flawed indicators of educational quality. Using current research, Kohn advances a series of well-reasoned arguments against traditional education without the usual storm of tree-shaking and excessive rhetoric. This is another balanced effort from an advocate who believes that taking our youth seriously and honoring their abilities and potential may be the first major step toward reform. Agent, Kim Witherspoon; 5-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kohn, a former teacher and now an award-winning author and education expert, here challenges the two important forces shaping American education today: the aggressive "back-to-basics" teaching approach that looks at children as passive receptacles into which facts and skills are poured, and the test-driven, "raising-the-bar" version, a heavy-handed push for "tougher standards." Drawing on a wealth of research as well as numerous stories from real classrooms, Kohn illustrates how each of these methods reflects a fundamental lack of understanding about how and why children learn. He also describes how the best teachers help students become critical, creative thinkers rather than filling them with forgettable facts or preparing them to take standardized tests. Parents as well as educators should read this remarkable book and rethink our most basic assumptions about the nature of learning and the possibilities of education in the 21st century. Recommended for all types of libraries.ASamuel T. Huang, Northern Illinois Univ. Libs., DeKalb
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kohn, an outspoken critic of standardized tests as a means of measuring educational achievement, criticizes the "aggressive nostalgia" that supports misguided reforms and a return to back-to-basic concepts in education. He cites B. F. Skinner and Edward L. Thorndike as traditionalists, advocates of obedience to authority, rote memorization, and standardized tests. Nontraditionalists, such as John Dewey and Jean Piaget, advocate an unstructured, more active approach, with an emphasis on critical thinking. Kohn concedes that neither approach is in evidence in a pure form in any school system. But the pendulum in educational trends is currently at a decidedly conservative, "even reactionary," cycle. Kohn notes the backlash against any nontraditional effort when the accepted measure of quality education--standardized test scores--shows any decline. Urban schools and minority students are most scrutinized, most tested, and most vulnerable to the politics of school reform. Kohn advises parents and educators on how to critically examine teaching methods that emphasize achievement as measured by test scores. (See The Big Test in August 1999 Upfront.) Vanessa Bush

Another blistering critique (after Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, As, Praise, and Other Bribes, 1993) of traditional public schooling by a progressive who displays the same intellectual rigidity he abhors in others. In pithy, take-no-prisoners prose, Kohn mounts a frontal assault on what he calls the ``Old School,'' where teachers rely on lectures, textbooks, worksheets, and grades to ``transmit'' a series of isolated facts and skills to their students. Rebutting those who believe that education should get ``back to basics,'' Kohn makes a persuasive case that the majority of schools never left them behind. The author also targets the ``tougher standards'' movement, arguing that a greater emphasis on standardized testing and other evaluations needlessly pits students against one another and ultimately leads to mediocrity. Since schools are already failing with this approach, why offer more of the same? Instead, Kohn, leaning heavily on John Dewey and Jean Piaget, proposes multiage, interdisciplinary classrooms where students work on projects and actively ``construct'' their own knowledge, teachers act as ``facilitators,'' and grades give way to performance-based evaluations. As presented here, however, Kohn's solution is just another brand of educational orthodoxy, the progressive version of the one-size-fits-all that currently afflicts the public schools. Oddly, for someone who decries simplistic thinking, Kohn does quite a bit of it. At one point, he frames the education debate this way: those who seek ``education for profit'' vs. those who seek ``education for democracy.'' (Guess which side he's on!) Worse, Kohn belittles everyone who doesn't agree with him. E.D. Hirsch, of cultural literacy fame, for example, is dismissed as the father of the ``bunch o' facts'' school. The harangue spills over into the book's lengthy appendix, in which the author debunks all the research he doesn't like, and even into the extensive footnotes, which endlessly recycle arguments made more effectively elsewhere. Though Kohn's zeal for reform is undeniable, in this book he seems content to preach to the progressive choir rather than persuade others to adopt his cause. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Linda Perlstein comments that "the activities that he suggests are wonderful" and that Alphie's is "an inspiring philosophy." (The Washington Post )

"Alfie Kohn forces readers to ask what our children are doing in school and what skills they really need to succeed in life. If youre a parent or concerned citizen, this book ought to be on your list." (The Washington Times )

"A very important achievement - a powerful, crisply written assault upon the mad excesses of the educational standards movement." -- Jonathan Kozol

"The Schools Our Children Deserve is a very important achievement, a powerful assault upon the mad excesses of the educational standards movement. It is a remarkable book that should become a classic in the field." -- Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities "The Schools Our Children Deserve forces us to reconsider most of what we thought we knew about education -- about homework and standardized testing, about phonics and what makes a good teacher. I want to hand this book to every parent in America and say, 'Before you send your child to school tomorrow, you must read this!'" -- Deborah Meier, educational reformer and author of The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem

In this "lively, provocative and well-researched book" (Theodore Sizer), Ale Kohn builds a powerful argument against the "back to basics" philosophy of teaching and simplistic demands to "raise the bar." Drawing on stories from real classrooms and extensive research, Kohn shows parents, educators, and others interested in the debate how schools can help students explore ideas rather than filling them with forgettable facts and preparing them for standardized tests. Here at last is a book that challenges the two dominant forces in American education: an aggressive nostalgia for traditional teaching ("If it was bad enough for me, its bad enough for my kids") and a heavy-handed push for Tougher Standards.

Are our schools in trouble because they have lowered their standards and strayed too far from the basics? Just the opposite, says Alfie Kohn: if American students are getting less than they deserve, it's due to simplistic demands to "raise the bar" and an aggressive nostalgia for traditional teaching.

Alfie Kohn, the author of critically acclaimed works on such subjects as competition and rewards, now turns the conventional wisdom about education on its head. In this landmark book, he shows how the "back to basics" philosophy of teaching treats children as passive receptacles into which forgettable facts are poured. Likewise, shrill calls for Tougher Standards are responsible for squeezing the intellectual life out of classrooms. Such politicized slogans reflect a lack of understanding about how and why kids learn, and they force teachers to spend time preparing students for standardized tests instead of helping them to become critical, creative thinkers.

Kohn has an ambitious yet practical vision of what our children's classrooms could be like. Drawing on a remarkable body of research, he helps parents and others interested in education understand the need to move beyond a "bunch o' facts" model of teaching. Using stories from real classrooms, he shows how this can be done. Along the way, he offers surprising insights about the Whole Language-versus-phonics controversy, why a straight-A report card may not be good news, and how we can best gauge the progress of schools and students.

The Schools Our Children Deserve presents a fresh perspective on today's headlines about education--and on what our children will be asked to do in class tomorrow morning. It is a persuasive invitation to rethink our most basic assumptions about schooling.

Alfie Kohn's six previous books include Punished by Rewards and No Contest: The Case Against Competition, as well as Beyond Displine and What to Look for in a Classroom. Descrilbed by Time magazine last year as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of educational fixation on grades and test scores," he is a popular lecturer, speaker to teachers, parents, and reasearchers accross the country. The author currently resides in Belmont, Massachusetts.

FORWARD... INTO THE PAST Abigail is given plenty of worksheets to complete in class as well as a substantial amount of homework. She studies to get good grades, and her school is proud of its high standardized test scores. Outstanding students are publicly recognized by the use of honor rolls, awards assemblies, and bumper stickers. Abigail's teacher, a charismatic lecturer, is clearly in control of the class: students raise their hands and wait patiently to be recognized. The teacher prepares detailed lesson plans well ahead of time, uses the latest textbooks, and gives regular quizzes to make sure kids stay on track. What's wrong with this picture? Just about everything. The features of our children's classrooms that we find the most reassuring--largely because we recognize them from our own days in school--typically turn out to be those least likely to help students become effective and enthusiastic learners. That dilemma is at the heart of education reform--or at least at the heart of this book. On the relatively rare occasions when nontraditional kinds of instruction show up in classrooms, many of us become nervous if not openly hostile. "Hey, when I was in school the teacher was in front of the room, teaching us what we needed to know about addition and adverbs and atoms. We paid attention and studied hard if we knew what was good for us. And it worked!" Or did it? Never mind all those kids who gave up on school and came to think of themselves as stupid. The more interesting question is whether those of us who were successful students "achieved this success by memorizing an enormous number of words without necessarily understanding them or caring about them."' Is it possible that we are not really as well educated as we'd like to think? Might we have spent a good chunk of our childhoods doing stuff that was exactly as pointless as we suspected it was at the time? It's not easy to acknowledge these possibilities, which may help to explain the aggressive nostalgia that is loose in the land. Any number of people subscribe to the Listerine theory of education: the old ways may be distasteful, but they're effective. Doubtless, this belief is reassuring; unfortunately, it's also wrong. Traditional schooling turns out to be as unproductive as it is unappealing. Thus, we ought to be demanding non-traditional classrooms for our kids, and supporting teachers who know enough to reject the siren call of "back to basics." We ought to be asking why our children aren't spending more time thinking about ideas and playing a more active role in the process of learning. In such an environment, they're not only more likely to be engaged with what they're doing but also to do it better. Parents have rarely been invited to consider this point of view, which is why schools continue operating in pretty much the same way, using pretty much the same set of assumptions and practices, as the decades roll by. In this chapter, I'll try to e