The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future » (New Edition)

As America enters the 21st century, U.S. students continue to slip behind in the world's rankings in science and math. Yet, at the same time, state prison budgets are increasing nearly three times as fast as budgets for education. In her new book, Linda Darling-Hammond, a chief education advisor to President Barack Obama, a bestselling author, and a nationally recognized leader in education reform, explores how America's performance globally is linked to the minority-majority achievement gap at home.

The Washington Post - Daine Ravitch

…contains a valuable lode of practical and research-based advice about how to improve our schools…[Darling-Hammond] reviews what the top-performing school systems around the world do to get great results.

Series Foreword James A. Banks ix

Acknowledgments xiii

1 The Flat World, Educational Inequality, and America's Future 1

Education in Our Flat and Changing World 3

How America Is Losing Ground 8

How Policy Can Matter 18

The Legacy of Educational Inequality 23

What Must be Done? 26

2 The Anatomy of Inequality: How the Opportunity Gap Is Constructed 27

Poverty and Lack of Social Supports 31

Limited Early Learning Opportunities 33

Resegregation and Unequal Schooling 35

Unequal Access to Qualified Teachers 40

Lack of Access to High-Quality Curriculum 51

Dysfunctional Learning Environments 62

3 New Standards and Old Inequalities: How Testing Narrows and Expands the Opportunity Gap 66

The Prospects and Pitfalls of Standards-Based Reform 67

Testing Without Investing 73

When New Standards Meet Ongoing Inequalities 81

4 Inequality on Trial: Does Money Make a Difference? 99

The Legality of Unequal School Funding 103

How Money Makes a Difference 105

Litigating for Adequacy 111

Under What Conditions Can Money Matter? 120

5 A Tale of Three States: What Happens When States Invest Strategically (or Don't) 131

The Cases of Connecticut and North Carolina: Strategic Resources Used Well 132

The Case of California: When Mismanagement Meets Aggressive Neglect 146

The Moral of the Stories 161

6 Steady Work: How Countries Build Successful Systems 163

The Finnish Success Story 164

Korea's Climb to Extraordinary Attainment 173

How Singapore Became a "Learning Nation" 181

Educational Leap Frog: The Common Practices of Steeply Improving Countries 192

7 Doing What Matters Most: Developing Competent Teaching 194

A Global Contrast 197

Building an Infrastructure for Quality Teaching 206

8 Organizing for Success: From Inequality to Quality 234

The Need for Major Redesign 237

Designing Schools for Teaching and Learning 240

Creating Systems of Successful Schools 264

9 Policy for Quality and Equality: Toward Genuine School Reform 278

Meaningful Student Learning 281

Intelligent, Reciprocal Accountability 300

Equitable and Adequate Resources 309

Strong Professional Practice 313

Schools Organized for Student and Teacher Learning 324

Conclusion 327

Notes 329

References 343

Index 375

About the Author 393