What Is Wrong With Our Schools? The ideology impoverishing education in America and how we can do better for our students

"Daniel Buck's book opens with a disquieting anecdote. He had read aloud with students from a shared novel, enriched the book with background knowledge, and led a whole-class discussion but Buck's students had never experienced anything like it. That such traditional methods were utterly foreign to his students, whose only experience was in schools informed by romantic and ""progressive"" theories of education, is the starting point to a book full of observations and reflections that are carefully researched, insightful, and grounded in student welfare. Unbeknownst to his students, Buck's ""new"" way of teaching drew on traditional concepts of instruction informed by research into cognitive and social science. This is a profoundly thoughtful and important book. -- Doug Lemov, author, Teach Like a Champion I have followed Daniel Buck's work for years. He is emerging as an indispensable and engaging voice on education. If he writes with more authority than most, it's because his views were formed not in an ivory tower, but as a classroom teacher who takes seriously his responsibility to other people's children. What is Wrong With Our Schools? will bring his insights to the broader audience he richly deserves. -- Robert Pondiscio, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute There's plenty in this smart, hard-hitting book to make anyone feel pessimistic about the state of American education. But optimism is still in order, because Buck has picked up the mantle of traditionalism for a new generation. -- Michael Petrilli, president, Thomas B. Fordham Institute"