This review essay explores the complexities and challenges involved in addressing controversial issues in the K-12 public school classroom, drawing from two recent books: Noddings and Brooks's "Teaching Controversial Issues: The Case for Critical Thinking and Moral Commitment in the Classroom" and Zimmerman and Robertson's "The Case…

What happens to public colleges and universities when confidence in the value of public institutions wanes? Nothing good, to judge from two new books whose titles telegraph the tale: "The Great Mistake," by Christopher Newfield and "Austerity Blues," by Michael Fabricant and Stephen Brier. This article discusses how the authors…

This article presents a review of four chapters in "Part I, Section A: Making Curriculum" of "The SAGE Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction" (F. M. Connelly, M. F. He, J. I. Phillion, Eds.; Sage Publications, 2008). These chapters ["Curriculum Policy and the Politics of What Should Be Learned in Schools" (Benjamin…

This article presents a review of three chapters in "Part II, Section E: Internationalizing Curriculum" of "The SAGE Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction" (F. M. Connelly, M. F. He, J. I. Phillion, Eds.; Sage Publications, 2008). These chapters ["Indigenous Resistance and Renewal: From Colonizing Practices to…

Reviews Herbert Kliebard's book, "Schooled to Work," which traces the evolution of the idea that public education should help train youth for jobs and assesses the impact of this idea on the organization of school curriculum. Kliebard's book discusses how the emphasis on increasing global competitiveness, reducing social waste and economic…

Reviews Ravitch's "Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms," suggesting that: the book is tedious, its documentation is limited, it neglects important reform movements, and it presents troubling accusations about an elitist attitude in public education which has historically been detrimental to the underprivileged. The review…

Reviews textbook on history of American education. Maintains that it lacks adequate citation of primary sources; does not clarify key concepts in the history of American education; gives a cursory overview of educational philosophy and psychology; and lacks coverage of several important issues. Cautions against its use, and suggests modification…

Recodes metaphors in Apple's "Educating the 'Right' Way: Markets, Standards, God and Inequality," as resources for rewriting ways of globalizing education. Suggests that the radical right is imposing its market-driven, evangelical, reductionist project on educational globalization. These efforts frame the work of real-world teachers…

Critiques Hirsh's book, "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them," which suggests that progressive education is rampant in today's school, and all students should learn important subject matter content that should be appropriately sequenced and uniformly paced, with achievement objectively measured. Critiques Hirsh's minimization…

Reviews two books, "The Other Boston Busing Story: What's Won and Lost across the Boundary Line" (Susan E. Eaton) and "Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement" (Mitchell L. Stevens), which provide revealing perspectives on the experiences of those American families who veture beyond the traditional local school.…

Reviews five books on school reform. At least two authors reinforce the philosophy that "every child can learn" with strong evidence in favor of heterogeneous classrooms. Another theme in the books is that education reform should encompass kindergarten through doctoral degrees. (MLF)

According to Herrnstein and Murray's "The Bell Curve" (1994), public education cannot alter the economic, social, or political stratification of American society. Intelligence is supposedly being combined and concentrated, and there is no inexpensive, reliable method to raise IQ. Actually, the book justifies the economic status quo and a…

Discusses themes in two forthcoming books. In "Beyond the Self-Managing School," coauthored by Jim Spinks, changes in public school education are placed on three tracks: creation of self-managing schools, unrelenting focus on student outcomes, and transformation of schools for the knowledge society. "The Future of Schools,"…

Reviews the book, "Contradictions of School Reform: Educational Costs of Standardized Testing," (Linda M. McNeil, 2000) which explores the effects of state- and school district-imposed accountability measures, including standardized testing, on teachers and students (most of whom are children of color) in an urban setting. The book…

Discusses three concerns about inequities in public education: the national movement to write off poor urban students (and growing pressure to privatize public schooling), the sense of hopelessness in the literature on public education, and the lack of action in creating educational change and improvement. (SM)