Why America's Children Can't Think : Creating Independent Minds for the 21st Century

Arguing against the use of standardized testing, the author uses his experience as an innovative teacher to outline a plan for fostering creative thinking among American youth.

According to teacher and education researcher Kline, American children can't think because they haven't been properly taught to read. Too much reading education, as measured by standardized tests, focuses on comprehension rather than interpretation, which Kline considers a better measure of the ability to think. From research, and his own experience as a slow reader--he read at the fourth-grade level while in junior college--Kline offers a different approach to reading that encourages engagement and thinking. The first part of his book focuses on reading development issues; the second part focuses on comprehension and interpretation. He reviews research on physiological differences in learning development, varying learning styles, pedagogical approaches to teaching reading, and use of visualization and imagination in reading. Kline's own obvious love of reading makes this informative book particularly enjoyable as well as helpful to parents, teachers, and others interested in literacy. Vanessa Bush
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