Few writers ask us to question our fundamental assumptions about education as provocatively as Alfie Kohn. Time magazine has called him'perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores.' And the Washington Post says he is 'the most energetic and charismatic figure standing in the way of a major federal effort to make standardized curriculums and tests a fact of life in every U.S. school.' In this new collection of essays, Kohn takes on some of the most important and controversial topics in education of the last few years. His central focus is on the real goals of education-a topic, he argues, that we systematically ignore while lavishing attention on misguided models of learning and counterproductive techniques of motivation. The shift to talking about goals yields radical conclusions and wonderfully pungent essays that only Alfie Kohn could have written. From the title essay's challenge to conventional, conservative definitions of a good education to essays on standards and testing and grades that tally the severe educational costs of overemphasizing a narrow conception of achievement, Kohn boldly builds on his earlier work and writes for a wide audience. Kohn's new book will be greeted with enthusiasm by his many readers and by any teacher or parent looking for a refreshing perspective on today's debates about schools.

Examines the ways in which cultural practices and knowledges are produced in and out of schools around the world.

ORIENTATION TO COLLEGE: A READER ON BECOMING AN EDUCATED PERSON offers a rich collection of articles designed to encourage students to reflect on the meaning of a college education, and to explore the opportunities for personal and professional development offered in college. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach-with readings written by experts in a number of different academic fields, government and industry-this text introduces students to the various dimensions of college, the learning process, and the skills they need to succeed in both college and the workplace.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University “Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—Vogue NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • Book Riot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library

A magisterial project: a dual biography of the preeminent figures of Judeo–Christian civilization overturning conventional views of Moses and Jesus as humble men of faith. By reanimating the biographies of Moses and Jesus in their historical context, Rosenberg reads their narrative as a cultural—rather than religious—endeavor. He charges that Moses and Jesus were "educated" men, steeped in the literature and scholarship of their day. There were no old or new testaments for them, only a long history of writing and writers. When scholars and clergy quote Moses and Jesus, they routinely neglect to inform us that Jesus is quoting the Hebrew Bible, often in the manner that Moses quoted Egyptian medical texts. The remarkable ability of both men to recall and transform a wide range of sources is overlooked. Where did they get these profound educations? Part biography, part critical analysis, An Educated Man challenges us to envision what defines "an educated man or woman" today—and how understanding religious history is crucial to it. Rosenberg offers a sympathetic approach to why we need Judeo–Christianity—and ultimately convinces us that the life of Jesus is unthinkable without the model of Moses before him.