School reform has failed, according to this provocative book that challenges our assumptions about education. Despite a variety of innovative programs in school districts across the country, today’s students seem to perform more poorly than ever by almost every measurement. One reason, says Laurence Steinberg, is that we continue to believe that educators, and educators alone, hold the key to our children’s success in school. Beyond the Classroom identifies the real nature of the education crisis in America. It explains why some students succeed brilliantly while others founder and draws valuable lessons about the nature of successful parental and peer group support.
“With its careful and interesting interpretation of the role of ethnicity in education, its conclusion that parents and peers are more important than pedagogues, its searing critique of a nation that is in danger of losing its greatest asset--the conviction that hard works makes a difference--and its plausible steps toward educational health, Beyond the Classroom is an important book that proclaims important truths.” -- The Washington Post
“A well-reasoned, clearly written contribution to the school reform debate.” -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
“In a world that’s drowning in books about school reform, Laurence Steinberg’s Beyond the Classroom deserves to become far more influential than most.” -- The Detroit Free Press
“Every parent, teacher, journalist, and school board member in America should read Beyond the Classroom. If we summoned the will to act on Dr. Steinberg’s sound recommendations, we could assure our nation’s children a better future.” -- Diane Ravitch, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, 1991-93
“One of the important education books of the decade.” -- Albert Shanker, The New York Times
