For some time, the author and his colleagues at the Kettering Foundation have been concerned that the public schools are losing their connection to a democratic public and that citizens are losing their sense of ownership and responsibility for these schools. Lately, they have also begun to worry that the connection between professional educators…

Chronicles the nation's testing madness, highlighting the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System's foibles, including its categorizations of "test-effective" teachers. Examines research on private/public school comparisons, failure of a Chilean voucher system, a privatization conference's testimonial proceedings, the class-size…

Mixed results for U.S. adults on the First International Adult Literacy Survey reveal the worthlessness of posting international test scores without considering cultural, social, and economic contexts. In the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, U.S. eighth-graders' performance was average, but fourth-graders' results were…

American youngsters could beat the socks off Asian kids if they too, studied constantly. Charter schools' ability to boost student achievement is unproven, and choice programs benefit some clients at others' expense. Schools should stress civic responsibility, not vocational training and the work ethic. Scholastic Aptitude Test scores rose in…