Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality - Hardcover

Murray, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307405389 ISBN 13: 9780307405388

Publisher: Crown Forum, 2008

Synopsis

With four simple truths as his framework, Charles Murray, the bestselling coauthor of The Bell Curve, sweeps away the hypocrisy, wishful thinking, and upside-down priorities that grip America’s educational establishment.

Ability varies. Children differ in their ability to learn academic material. Doing our best for every child requires, above all else, that we embrace that simplest of truths. America’s educational system does its best to ignore it.

Half of the children are below average. Many children cannot learn more than rudimentary reading and math. Real Education reviews what we know about the limits of what schools can do and the results of four decades of policies that require schools to divert huge resources to unattainable goals.

Too many people are going to college. Almost everyone should get training beyond high school, but the number of students who want, need, or can profit from four years of residential education at the college level is a fraction of the number of young people who are struggling to get a degree. We have set up a standard known as the BA, stripped it of its traditional content, and made it an artificial job qualification. Then we stigmatize everyone who doesn’t get one. For most of America’s young people, today’s college system is a punishing anachronism.

America’s future depends on how we educate the academically gifted. An elite already runs the country, whether we like it or not. Since everything we watch, hear, and read is produced by that elite, and since every business and government department is run by that elite, it is time to start thinking about the kind of education needed by the young people who will run the country. The task is not to give them more advanced technical training, but to give them an education that will make them into wiser adults; not to pamper them, but to hold their feet to the fire.

The good news is that change is not only possible but already happening. Real Education describes the technological and economic trends that are creating options for parents who want the right education for their children, teachers who want to be free to teach again, and young people who want to find something they love doing and learn how to do it well. These are the people for whom Real Education was written. It is they, not the politicians or the educational establishment, who will bring American schools back to reality.

Twenty-four years ago, Charles Murray’s Losing Ground changed the way the nation thought about welfare. Real Education is about to do the same thing for America’s schools.

About this title

About the Author

CHARLES MURRAY is the author of two of the most widely debated and influential social policy books in the last three decades, Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950–1980 and, with the late Richard J. Herrnstein, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. He is the W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

Murray (Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950–1980; coauthor, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life) proposes four "simple truths"—ability varies, half of all children are below average, too many people are going to college, and America's future depends on how we educate the gifted—for parents, educators, and policymakers to confront. The current focus of the educational system, Murray contends, of educating all children to the same level and holding them to the same standards (i.e., No Child Left Behind) ignores these four truths and attempts to prepare most children to earn a B.A., though many of them are not suited for college and would be happier and more productive in different careers. He suggests that bachelor's degrees should be reserved for students with the ability and interest in careers requiring it and instead there should be a series of national certifications to show what a job candidate can actually do. Murray's argument is controversial but well researched. His book is highly recommended for public and academic libraries.—Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Murray, coauthor of The Bell Curve, believes our educational system's failures stem from the fundamental lie that every child can be anything he or she wants and that such educational romanticism prevents progress. Four simple truths, he asserts, would prove better: children have different abilities, half of the children are below average, too many children go to college, and America's future depends on the gifted. Murray takes care with his first point, discussing various types of abilities instead of the oft-maligned I.Q. measure; however, he does believe that test scores reflect ability. He argues that there are only a limited number of academically gifted people and these are America's future leaders, that only this elite can enjoy college productively and that the nongifted shouldn't be channeled by their high school counselors into training for that college chimera, which wouldn't make them happy anyway. Further, he argues, if the Educational Testing Service created certification tests covering what employers want applicants to know, these would become the gold standard for applicants, rather than college degrees. This book is likely to stir controversy even if it appears that Murray is dressing up an old elitist argument—test scores reflect ability, so high-scorers should be offered a challenging education, while the below-average should be herded into vocational training. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Given to thinking big about social issues (The Bell Curve, 1994; In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State, 2005), Murray turns to the vexing topic of education. Conceding there’s much to complain about, including school facilities, administration, funding, and teacher education, he focuses instead on four demonstrably true contentions that must guide successful reform: (1) scholastic ability varies, as all comparative measurements of it attest; (2) half of all children are and must be below average in scholastic aptitude; (3) too many are going to college; (4) America’s future depends on the education of the most gifted. Anticipating that these four points will be seen as justifying social elitism, Murray emphasizes rigor in the demands made of the gifted and opines that the preponderance of the gifted aren’t now in any elite. Furthermore, he advocates reducing the market importance of the BA degree while raising the value of nonscholastic educational attainment, such as the certifications of skilled trades and performance capabilities. An argument only ideologues and special interests should despise. --Ray Olson

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown Forum
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0307405389
• ISBN 13: 9780307405388
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224