Book Profiles Parents, Students, Teachers, and Policymakers
Who Are Fighting to Change America's Schools for the Better
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- With student test scores showing that the
academic performance of America's school children in the basic
subjects are at record lows, the nonpartisan Pacific Research
Institute today released The Great Classroom Collapse
-- a new book investigating the implosion of rigor and learning in
schools nationwide and profiling courageous individuals who are
fighting to change things so every student is prepared for college
and the workforce.
The Great Classroom Collapse is available
now for purchase at Amazon.com or your favorite
online bookseller.
Watch a short video of Izumi discussing the book
here.
Lance Izumi, senior director of
PRI's Center for Education and the book's author, asks in the
book's introduction, "why are students around the country achieving
at such low levels in core subjects such as reading and math?"
"Those reasons," he writes, "range from schools prioritizing
equity and social justice concerns over equality of opportunity and
meritocracy; to teaching methods and curricula unsupported by
empirical evidence; to teacher training programs that fail to
instruct prospective teachers on what really improves student
learning; and to bureaucratic adherence to failed education
programs."
The Great Classroom Collapse profiles students, parents,
K-12 teachers and tutors, college instructors, and policymakers who
are experiencing the collapse of learning in America's classrooms
and who are fighting to change things for the better. Among those
profiled in the book are:
- A mom who grew up in the tiny West African nation of
Sierra Leone and who has fought
against the efforts of her school district to decrease the rigor in
her children's school in the name of equity;
- A mom and former teacher who reveals the deficiency of her
teacher education and the tragic consequences for her students;
- A top engineer at the famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has
fought against the failed reading and math curricula at his
children's school; and
- A California state legislator,
the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, who is pushing to ensure that children
receive the foundational reading skills they need to succeed.
Through personal stories and data analysis, The Great
Classroom Collapse details the battles and shifts going on in
schools across the nation.
"In too many places in America," Izumi writes, "learning in the
classroom has collapsed, but it can be improved so that our
children have a greater opportunity for a successful future."
The Pacific Research Institute
(www.pacificresearch.org) champions freedom,
opportunity, and personal responsibility by advancing free-market
policy ideas. Follow PRI on
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and LinkedIn.
Media Contact
Emeline
Bogle
(202) 970-9742
380095@email4pr.com
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SOURCE Pacific Research Institute