Greenhaven Press's At Issue series provides a wide range of opinions on individual social issues. Each volume focuses on a specific issue and offers a variety of perspectives-everywitness accounts, governmental views, scientific analysis, newspaper and magazine accounts, and many more-to illuminate the issue. Extensive bibliographies and annotated lists of relevant organizations point to sources for further research. Enhancing critical thinking skills, each At Issue volume is an excellent research tool to help readers understand current social issues and prepare reports.
Introduction 7
1 US Student Achievement Trends Downward as Other Countries Improve Linda Darling-Hammond 11
2 American Schools Possess Strengths Other Countries Want to Emulate Yong Zhao 25
3 US Schools Can Achieve More by Doing Less Lawrence Baines 34
4 Low Standards Cause America's Poor Educational Performance Amanda Ripley 41
5 Blending Traditional and Online Learning Improves Achievement Jonathan Schorr Deborah McGriff 49
6 Private Funders Struggle to Make an Impact on Education Reform Helen Zelon 61
7 Large Class Sizes Are Unfair to Students Scott Thill 68
8 US Colleges Lack the Rigor Needed to Compete Globally Richard Arum Josipa Roksa 74
9 US Students Trail Global Peers in Foreign Language Learning Lewis Beale 79
10 College Access Is Shrinking Despite Demand for an Educated Workforce Kim Clark 84
11 Education Budget Cuts Forecast a Less Prepared Workforce Gary Scharrer 93
12 The United States Must Produce Better Teachers to Compete Globally Judith Kleinfeld 97
Organizations to Contact 101
Bibliography 106
Index 110
Overview
Greenhaven Press's At Issue series provides a wide range of opinions on individual social issues. Each volume focuses on a specific issue and offers a variety of perspectives-everywitness accounts, governmental views, scientific analysis, newspaper and magazine accounts, and many more-to illuminate the issue. Extensive bibliographies and annotated lists of relevant organizations point to sources for further research. Enhancing critical thinking skills, each At Issue volume is an excellent research tool to help ...