"In this bold new book, the result of a three-and-a-half-year study commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles E. Silberman examines the problems that beset American education with the same intelligence, compassion, and uncompromising honesty that marked his award-winning best seller Crisis in Black and White." "Anyone who is concerned with the nation's public schools and with its colleges and universities will be disturbed by the picture of current practice which Mr. Silberman paints in vivid and painful detail. Many will agree with his insistence that it is not enough merely to ask, "How can we bring the worst institutions up to the level of the best?"--For all too often, the best is simply not good enough."--Jacket.

Even though 95% of Americans consider critical thinking an essential skill that schools should teach, our students' problem-solving skills rank among the lowest in the world. Students actually show lower brain activity in class than while watching TV or sleeping, and most college students, as well as half of American adults, fail critical thinking tests. But why? Written by an expert who trains educators and executives, America's Critical Thinking Crisis shows that the problem doesn't fall on educators or Gen Z, but on a fundamentally flawed conception of what education means. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and educational research, it demonstrates how we can create legions of divergent thinkers and problem solvers by tapping the hardwiring that innately makes children think all the time, in all areas of life - just not so much in school.

Not since student turmoil and unrest wreaked havoc on the nation's campuses three decades ago has American higher education been the subject of so much controversy and popular criticism. Countless indictments compete for the public's attention as critics explore vital issues confronting today's institutions of higher learning: curricular fragmentation, declining academic standards, the apparent erosion of liberal learning within academe, widespread neglect of undergraduate education in favour of academic research and unprecedented financial woes. Confusion over fundamental priorities and purposes, the author argues, lies at the heart of the dilemma facing end-of-the-century higher education. Thoughtful and timely, Crisis in the Academy offers a wide-ranging analysis of contemporary higher education while making an important contribution to the ongoing public debate over the future of America's beleaguered and diverse institutions of higher learning.

The authors discuss the history of American education and its goals in a democratic society. The nature of the criticisms of public education and the motivations of the critics are examined. The final section includes an analysis of the significance of the public education system's possible demise, a suggested plan of action for the improvement of public education, and a Guerrilla Handbook which offers suggestions for parents wishing to secure the best possible public education for their children. John Dewey said What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children. Any other idea for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy. The authors argue that the nation's public schools must be serious about demanding equal educational opportunities without regard for affluence level, religious background, race, gender, or ethnicity.