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Title: The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools by David C. Berliner, Bruce J. Biddle, James Bell ISBN: 0-201-44196-9 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: October, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.59 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Best Book on the So-called Education Crisis
Comment: Few subjects have been more lied about than the issue of the state of public schools. Berliner and Biddle, two academics in the field of education, methodically demolish every single lie, every single myth that's been perpetrated by the right wing in the past two decades. They dispel the myth of "declining" SAT scores, they take on the Reagan administration propaganda piece A NATION AT RISK, they dispute the notion that private schools are inherently superior than public schools... and they repeatedly show, with a truckload of documentation, what is right with public schools.
One of the most notable parts of the book concerns a governmental report conducted during the Bush administration called "The Sandia Report." The report's researchers looked at existing studies about such diverse areas in education as teacher preparation, SAT scores, funding of schools, postsecondary education, and dropout/retention rates. Contrary to the gloom-and-doom of A NATION AT RISK, the researchers found that our educational system in the United States was, on the whole, in far better shape than the propaganda had claimed. Unfortunately, the Bush administration squelched the report as it did not support its preconceived notions on the state of education in America. It wasn't until 1993 when the report was finally released. Berliner and Biddle describe how the report had to be rewritten and rewritten to fit the Bush mold. Still, the results of the study weren't good enough. This was a major and unreported scandal during the Bush years....
Berliner and Biddle do acknowledge there are problems in the public schools; for example, the increased numbers of immigrants and the disparities in funding of different school districts in different states. These are REAL problems which require increased spending, unlike the anti-public school propaganda which states the public schools are failures and the only way to save them is to give taxpayer money to private schools via vouchers, which in turn starve the public schools even more for funding and the quality goes down even further. At bottom, the anti-public school propaganda campaign is a campaign against our very form of democracy and social mobility which has made this country great. Berliner and Biddle provide ample ammunition to counter the anti-public school lies.
Rating: 5
Summary: Straightens things out
Comment: I am about to become a public school teacher, and browsing the bookstores, I have been amazed at the sheer number of books criticizing America's public schools. This element in our culture has always struck me as odd, seeing as how my public school education was above average. Apparently, these Americans who write editorials and books about the public schools must have somehow scratched by as well--they are, after all, writing books.
Needless to say, I was surprised when I saw this book because it contravenes conventinal wisdom. As the writers say, their assertions are going to be hard to believe. They are, but the facts bear them out. I would not be able to accuse these writers as using a dearth of evidence, because there are charts and graphs of documented, peer reviewed studies on just about every other page. The arguments in the book range from the basic point that since SAT scores only test verbal and math skills (duh!)they are not a good indicator of overall student achievement. Besides, the test was created to predict success in baccalaureate programs, not in life or high school or to test general knowledge.
The authors go on with several relevant factors about testing and the good sense of comparing apples to apples. For example, a government study that said we paid more per student than other nations was due to the fact that we included higher education in the figure (other nations did not include that figure). Take that out, and our expenditure per student is middle to low. American eighth graders who did poorly on algebra tests when compared to Japanese eighth graders? Considering the fact that much of the sample of our students did not have algebra, a good comparison could not be made. When you took the sample of American eighth graders who had taken Algebra, our mean scores were actually higher than the Japanese.
The book goes on and on like this. Definitely arguments worth looking at seriously. The book is a call to focus on the correct problems in American education (financial disparity between affluent areas and non-affluent areas), and to be in awe that our school system serves people and achieves despite some tough odds.
Some readers will certainly charge that these writers manipulate data. If that is what you believe after reading this book, then fine. But in defense of Berliner & Biddle, I must commend them for at least using data, and not just assertions to bolster their arguments. Which is more than I can say of the likes of many of the right-wing political administrations who started the trend of criticizing public schooling. In America, we are committed to equal opportunity in education. That is a value that other countries, such as our 'media rival' Japan, do not necessarily share.
Rating: 4
Summary: Searching for Concensus
Comment: Whether you are reading reviews HERE or the Stedman's review and subsequent heated debate in the reviewed journal (check ERIC database), you couldn't help but get the feeling that THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE and ENOUGH ANALYSES to justify EITHER sides of the argument, depending on your political and educational convictions. I am a cognitive psychologist and does research in schools. I felt that, short of checking up on every source and reading every cited papers by myself, I won't be able to draw a clear conclusion. However, maybe the differing points are not the only important part here. If we listen to what people do not argue, there lies the agreements between authors and reviewers.
1) Leave the issue of whether our overall aggregate achievement is declining or not, we can agree that schools in poor areas are funded poorly, and their students are achieving poorly by most standards.
2) Leave the political argument aside, we can agree that it is NOT FAIR to entirely blame (or credit) teachers or schools for underserved students' achievements. Our political system and culture must take a compassionate stand along with the accountability perspective in order to help these students.
3) Teachers can make differences in achievements if properly supported, but not overly burdened, tested, pressured, and mandated.
Let's put down the liberal or conservative or neo conservative hats for a bit. I think most Americans with good hearts agree that we should do what we can to help even the poorest child achieve. Common sense says that slapping more tests on that poor child isn't going to do it. Common sense says that slapping the child's teacher in the face for the child's failure isn't going to do it. Common sense also says just handing bundles of cash to the teacher or school isn't going to do it either. A problem inherent in the system must be addressed systemically, on all fronts.
The authors did favor one particular point of view and did selectively represent the evidence. But they are justified, given how one-sided the debate had been from our government to television to homes to even education circles. The defense tends to rise to the level of the offense, and we can mostly agree that the offense has been vicious and just as biased, if not more.
All in all, this book is WORTH reading. The debate between Stedman and authors are worth reading too. If you read both, I think that you would walk away less opinionated in either direction, and more compassionate towards the poor and low-achieving children of our country.
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Title: Horace's School : Redesigning the American High School by Theodore R. Sizer ISBN: 0395755344 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 09 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: What They Don't Tell You in Schools of Education About School Administration by John A. Black, Fenwick W. English ISBN: 0877624615 Publisher: Scarecrow Press Pub. Date: 28 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: The Struggle for Control of Public Education: Market Ideology Vs. Democratic Values by Michael Engel ISBN: 1566397413 Publisher: Temple Univ Press Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Politics, Markets and America's Schools by John E. Chubb, Terry M. Moe ISBN: 0815714092 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: 01 July, 1990 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto by Mortimer Jerome Adler, Paideia Group ISBN: 0020641001 Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company Pub. Date: September, 1982 List Price(USD): $7.00 |
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