[.uk] Education Myths: What Special Interest Groups Want You ... (ISBN 074254978X)

A book with a clear agenda, yet no real solutions:
It has become common for those with political agendas to try to obscure those agendas by presenting them in books that appear to be a combination of scholarship and plain old common sense. The authors of such texts have clear agendas, yet want to distance themselves from "special interest groups" and appear as a neutral, disinterested parties who are just being helpful. This is one such effort. The author has a clear anti-public education, pro-voucher, anti-funding agenda that shows up in discussions of a broad range of issues. The real problem with this book is that the author relies on scant evidence and weak analysis, including hypotheticals, to try to refute what he portrays as "myths." His review of the Star project on class size (which ignores other collaborating studies) is an excellent example. His critique of the issue of small class size is extremely poor and can only have one motivation - to oppose increased funding for public schools. Throughout the book, Mr. Greene selectively picks through data, presenting it in charts and graphs in an attempt to give the book an objective, scholarly feel, while repeating the theme that teachers do not need more pay, schools are not underfunded, vouchers are a form of school reform, and private schools outperform public schools. In doing so, he actually perpetuates several myths, such as the myth that, as a group nationwide private schools outperform public schools. I tend to dislike books that lump common perceptions and research-based concepts together as "myths," but I dislike them even more when the "myths" are "debunked" by opinionated statements posing as scholarly conclusions. For example, in the chapter on vouchers, the author states that the evidence conclusively shows vouchers are successful. This is not a factual statement, it is an opinion. Mr. Greene, don't present opinions as facts, your readers are smarter than that. This book will not shed any new light on these issues to anyone who works in the field of education. It is a poor choice for someone wishing to understand current educational policy issues due to the author attempted to hide his clear bias. There are no alternative solutions offered. Mr. Greene's interpretation of the research ranges from simply repeating what is well known to highly opinionated statements presented as facts to being simply incorrect. His analysis of current research is flawed and incompetent. I do not recommend this book and wish I had not wasted my money.

Thank you Mr. Greene:
Jay P. Greene has an agenda: the beginning of a modern system of public education. Wake up America, we need change in Public Education and Greene is right on point. Some of his points can be offensive (to teachers), but sometimes the truth hurts. Everyone agrees there exists a problem, and when Greene asks the reader to look at the facts that lead to the roots in order to get to the solution, I am inspired that there is hope. We all have agendas in life that govern the decisions we make from the time we wake to the time we sleep. Some of the agendas we choose in life are selfish and regressive for our great country. We can only hope that more are interested in progress. Greene is a true American who has put the progress of his country at the front of his agenda. "Education Myths" is clearly written from the hearts and minds of men who care and I look forward to reading more from Greene and others from his school of thought.

its about freedom stupid:
I don't need lengthy intellectual arguments to understand that it is better to have parents decide where their children go to school, what they are taught, and how resources are distributed. This country was founded upon the concept of individual liberty and the "public" schools(they are government schools, not public schools) have taken this portion of our liberty away.

Excellent Discussion of Why the Conventional Wisdom on Education is Wrong:
"Education Myths" is one of those "love it or hate it" books. Liberals who have bought into these myths will despise the "reality checks" Greene gives while conservatives will applaud his meticulous debunking of them. Are schools underfunded? Are teachers underpaid? Do smaller class sizes raise student achievement? Does teacher credentialing result in better performance? Do vouchers work? Greene reviews the research on these and other "hot button" issues to demonstrate that the conventional wisdom is very often wrong.

Repulsive:
I have never read such a misuse of statistics to piece together arguments that are flimsy at best. I thought the idea of the book sounded good, only to be horrified from the first paragraph on. If you believe ideas such as "bigger classrooms MAY actually be better because then schools could hire FEWER teachers so there'd be more money to pay them and it would attract higher QUALITY teachers!" Huh? The logic is so ridiculous. So where exactly would all the low quality teachers go? And exactly who wants their kids in the schools while this change comes about to see if this counter-intuitive idea actually works? I'm sure this book will appeal to people of a certain mindset, but if you are looking for a book with objective, fact-based ideas for improving education, this ain't it.