This book presents a collection of essays that suggest how to improve the education system in the United States. There are 19 chapters in 5 parts. Part 1, "Classroom Management," includes: (1) "The Limits of Teaching Skills"; (2) "The Trouble with School Uniforms"; (3) "Beyond Discipline"; and (4) "How Not To Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education." Part 2, "American Ideology Goes to School," includes: (5) "Resistance to Cooperative Learning: Making Sense of Its Deletion and Dilution"; (6) "'A Lot of Fat Kids Who Don't Like To Read': The Effects of Pizza Hut's Book It! Program and Other Reading Incentives"; (7) "Grading: The Issue Is Not How but Why"; (8) "Grade Inflation and Other Red Herrings"; and (9) "Only for My Kid: How Privileged Parents Undermine School Reform." Part 3, "Unquestioned Assumptions about Children," includes: (10) "Suffer the Restless Children: Unsettling Questions about the ADHD Label"; (11) "The Truth about Self-Esteem"; and (12) "Television and Children: ReViewing the Evidence." Part 4, "Business as Usual," includes: (13) "The Five-Hundred-Pound Gorilla"; (14) "The False Premises of School Choice Plans"; (15) "Students Don't 'Work'--They Learn"; and (16) "The Littlest Customers: TQM Goes to School." Part 5, "Lessons Learned," includes: (17) "Caring Kids: The Role of Schools"; (18) "Choices for Children: Why and How To Let Students Decide"; and (19) "What To Look for in a Classroom." (SM)