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Linda Darling-Hammond
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The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education Series)

by Linda Darling-Hammond (Author), James A. Banks (Series Editor)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 231 ratings
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Linda Darling-Hammond is the 2023 National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Policy Leader of the Year

In this bestseller and Grawemeyer Award winner, Linda Darling-Hammond offers an eye-opening wake-up call concerning America’s future and vividly illustrates what the United States needs to do in order to build a system of high-achieving and equitable schools that ensures every child the right to learn.

Today in the United States only 1 in 10 low-income kindergarteners goes on to graduate from college. At a time when education matters more than ever, the U.S. high school graduation rate has dropped from first in the world to the bottom half of rankings for comparable nations. While such sobering facts inform her new book, it is the successes of effective school systems in the U.S. and abroad that the author focuses on to develop a clear and coherent set of policies that can be used to create high-quality and equitable schools.

Drawing on her broad experience, Darling-Hammond examines the roots of our modern education system and how the skills required for our 21st century global economy cannot be learned in traditional education systems, which have been in place since the early 1900s. She identifies an “opportunity gap” that has evolved as new kinds of learning have become necessary ― a gap where low-income students, students of color, and English language learners often do not have the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and well-resourced classrooms.

After setting the stage on current conditions in the U.S., Darling-Hammond offers a coherent approach for effective reform, focusing on creating successful systems, inducting and supporting quality teachers, designing effective schools, establishing strong professional practice, and providing equitable and sufficient resources. The Flat World and Education lays out what the United States needs to do in order to build a system of high-achieving and equitable schools that ensures every child the right to learn.

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Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    080774963X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0807749630
  3. Publisher
    Teachers College Press
  4. Publication date
    January 7, 2010
  5. Part of series
    Multicultural Education Series
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    408 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"There are few who are as strong as Darling-Hammond in using and analyzing statistical data and scholarship…and in fighting for educational equity; when she talks about leaving no child behind, she truly means it. This book is a must for graduate education students, educators, (and) policy makers...Essential." ― Choice



"Contains a valuable lode of practical and research-based advice about how to improve our schools." ― Washington Post



"Darling-Hammond identifies the policies and the practices that could turn the tide from educational mediocrity to educational excellence for all if we only had the will." ― The School Administrator



"Given the accessible and yet sophisticated way that Darling-Hammond analyzes past educational reform efforts and provides policy direction for the future, it is no surprise that many in the field of education had hoped that she would become the Secretary of Education under President Obama." ― Teachers College Record



"Darling-Hammond reveals the successful educational strategies around the world that are toppling the old educational guard, including a high degree of personalization that allows stronger, closer relationships among students, faculty, staff, and parents...Scholarly and factual, well-researched and packed with astounding examples of the current climate of American education, this text should prove highly informative for educators, educational administrators, and involved parents throughout the U.S." ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)



“This is a work I wish would be read and absorbed by all who are attempting to 'reform' our schools” ― Daily Kos



“Darling-Hammond’s book gives us an idea of where we could have been headed if she were in charge of the country's education policy.” ― The Washington Post-The Answer Sheet

Review

"Linda has done it again. She combines vision with hands-on policy and school understanding as virtually no one else does. This is a must."
―Deborah Meier, 45 years of experience working in public schools

“We are so fortunate that Linda Darling-Hammond has provided this roadmap for educational excellence for allchildren in today's flat world.”
―Richard W. Riley, Former U. S. Secretary of Education

“When Linda Darling-Hammond speaks, America’s teachers listen! I listened and learned from her as we together led the National Boardfor Professional Teaching Standards and created the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.Excellent schools are the key to America’s economic future, and superb teaching is the key to great schools. This book makes clear as abell how to organize schools for successful teaching and what state andnational policies are required to support it.”
―James B. Hunt, Former Governor of North Carolina

“Anyone who desires a quantum leap in the educational achievements of American students―as opposed to the 'quick fix'―must address the issues raised in this carefully argued and well-documented work.”
―Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education

“Once again Linda Darling-Hammond brings clarity to complexity, thoughtful analysis to politically charged issues, and sound policy recommendations to the hysteria of what to do to save America’s public schools. In this volume the macro meets the micro on terms that let all democratically minded citizens breathe a sigh of relief.”
―Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Her arguments are sound, rooted in evidence, and unencumbered by the kinds of ideological partisanship that characterizes too much of current debates on education. After reading this book, one will understand why it was that candidate Obama, when seeking advice from the sharpest minds in education, turned to Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond.” ―Pedro A. Noguera, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, New York University

"Linda Darling-Hammond has written the definitive description of the problems that drag down the quality and equity of our educational system. Writing with passion, solid scholarship, and compassion, she presents a vision of the changes that are necessary to build a better education system and a brighter future for all our children and our nation."
―Diane Ravitch, New York University, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System

“Linda Darling-Hammond’s latest is a profoundly important book. She provides both a powerful rationale and a clear, detailed roadmap for how public education must be transformed to meet the challenges of teaching, learning, and assessment in the 21st century. It is a ‘must-read’ for educators, policymakers, and others concerned about the future of our country in a ‘flat’ world.”
―Tony Wagner, co-director, Harvard Change Leadership Group, author of The Global Achievement Gap

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Teachers College Press (January 7, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 080774963X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807749630
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 231 ratings

About the author

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Linda Darling-Hammond

Linda Darling-Hammond

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Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign. She is also President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan institute that conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Her books include The Right to Learn, Professional Development Schools, Learning to Teach for Social Justice, and Authentic Assessment in Action.

Darling-Hammond is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. She is also a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Education. From 1994–2001, she was executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future was named one of the most influential reports affecting U.S. education in that decade. In 2006, Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation’s ten most influential people affecting educational policy. In 2008, she served as the leader of President Barack Obama’s education policy transition team.

Darling-Hammond began her career as a public school teacher and co-founded both a preschool and a public high school. She served as Director of the RAND Corporation’s education program and as an endowed professor at Columbia University, Teachers College. She has consulted widely with federal, state and local officials and educators on strategies for improving education policies and practices. Among her more than 500 publications are a number of award-winning books, including The Right to Learn, Teaching as the Learning Profession, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World and The Flat World and Education. She received an Ed.D. from Temple University (with highest distinction) and a B.A. from Yale University (magna cum laude).

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
231 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Stephen Armstrong
5.0 out of 5 stars What we Americans can do for our education system(s)
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2010
Verified Purchase
This is Linda Darling-Hammond's magnum opus, and it is a magnum opus--complex, thorough, well-written, complete, and thoughtful. Her thesis is that until we in the U.S. do the following, our country will produce hollowed-out children who cannot compete in the global economy: (1) Make a serious, long-term commitment to educational equity by funding all districts equally; (2) Use "thinking curricula" that require students to work together on projects of intellectual import, rather than on meaningless "seatwork"; (3) Professionalize the teaching profession by increasing its status, pay, training, professional development, and requirements for entry, especially in the sciences, mathematics, foreign languages, and so forth; (4) Use a 15- to 20-year timeline for improvement; (5) Stop the yo-yo curriculum innovations that swing U.S. curricula all over the block in unproductive "innovational" oscillations; (6) Stop punitive de-funding or punitive control of "failing schools" through Annual Yearly Progress reports, which have the unintended consequence of over-valuing the results of standardized testing.

Darling-Hammond gives both positive and negative examples of educational innovation. On the positive side in the globe: Singapore, South Korea, and Finland. In the U.S. Connecticut, North Carolina. These are extremely well-written case studies of how to improve education well. On the negative side: The U.S. as a whole, and California in particular, which gutted the #1 public school system in the world over the last 30 years.

In regard to educational equity, Darling-Hammond is particularly passionate, especially since the poor districts are also the immigrant districts are also the most-needy districts and the least well-funded districts. Such disparities in Massachsetts, for example (not mentioned in her book): Newton, MA, just built a $170 million high school; Chelsea, MA, twenty miles away, is bankrupt. Guess where the poor immigrant groups live.

I finished the book by wanting to ask Darling-Hammond questions. For instance, if we created a national action plan to improve education in the U.S., how long would she want it to run, and how much would it cost? What would she do about the multi-tiered political offices that control local education (federal, state, and local)? What would be her #1 curriculum priorities? Would she dispose of useless courses? How would she handle the problems of parent rage and disrespect of teachers? What would be the impact of her reforms on special education and bilingual education, which have poor track records for re-integration or fast integration of students into the overall curriculum?

On my part, I have suspicions about both special education and bilingual education that lasts for six or seven years. Also, Darling-Hammond does not mention that U.S. students study about 50% as much as students in well-functioning countries such as India and China. This lets our students off the hook of improving themselves (see the movie, 2 Million Minutes, which is the amount of time students in the U.S., China, and India spend in high school).

Nevertheless, her overarching conclusion is valid: until and unless we build an equitable, well-funded, comprehensive, across-the-board reformed educational system, U.S. children will never be able to compete in the world economy. That's the nice way of saying our children will come out dumb.

The measure of a good book: one wants to continue the dialogue. Nicely done, Dr. Darling- Hammond!
106 people found this helpful
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Cy Jurgens
5.0 out of 5 stars Future of America
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2011
Verified Purchase
THE LEADING BOOK ON EDUCATION IN THE WORLD TODAY

If America would follow the leadership of Linda Darling Hammond in this outstanding compilation about how we teach students and teachers, organize professional development and preK-16 schools: we could again become the greatest democratic republic in the world. OUR STATE SYSTEMS NEED THE REVISIONS SHE DESCRIBES IN ORDER FOR SCHOOLS TO THRIVE. SCHOOLS NEED TO IMPROVE, BUT SCHOOLS ARE NOT STAND ALONE INSTITUTIONS AS THE CAPTCITY TO TEACH IN SCHOOLS IS DEVELOPED IN THE UNIVERSITIES AND DEPARTMENTS.

Her template, adopted from sound research in America and actions taken in other nations to surpass us, describes how schools need support from leading colleges of education and state departments in building their teaching capacity and providing teachers with the tools and knowledge to teacher every child. Highly skilled teachers with these tools can not only teach every child, they can teach more children, and work together to constantly improve our practice in serivce to America.

Not only can we do it better through her leadership, we can do it right, we can do it cheaper over the long run and capitalize on the tremendous human potential we are now wasting in this nation by building our prison populations and demeaning our constitutions instead of building our professional community and reliably and predictably teaching every child to the best of their ability with love, caring and teaching instead of harsh standards, narrowed curriculum and ineffective punishments of NCLB Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us . The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining EducationThe Fate of Nature: Rediscovering Our Ability to Rescue the Earth

A 100% positive read for educators, politicians who care and every parent.
2 people found this helpful
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M. L. Baker
4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2011
Verified Purchase
This book is a thorough and professional review of what Ms. Darling-Hammond considers to be the essentials needed to bring the American school system up to par with the leading international schools systems. She is a strong advocate of the place of the teachers and principles as the key to bringing about this transformation. If you need to make an argument in favor of her view of the situation there are plenty of examples and a generous bibliography. If you want to see a solution to our problems in terms of teachers and principles, this book will give you the evidence that you need and more.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Improvements are needed in Australian schools also.
Reviewed in Australia on August 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
We also have schools where some children attend without having had a decent breakfast; where more government aid is given to those schools that least need it, and inequality of income leads to vast inequalities of educational outcomes.

We may be the only country where more govt. money, per student, is given to wealthy private schools than to those where aid is most needed.

The book is a little repetitive, but gosh is it educational.
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