The Same Thing Over and Over
How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's Ideas

  • Title:

    The Same Thing Over and Over
  • Hardcover Price:

    27.95
  • Hardcover ISBN:

    9780674055827
  • Hardcover Dimensions:

    5.5" x 8.25"
  • 304 Hardcover pages

Click here to purchase this book on Amazon

In this genial and challenging overview of the endless debates over school reform, Frederick M. Hess shows that even bitter opponents who argue about how to improve schools agree on much more than they realize when it comes to the need for radically overhauling our schools. Failing to recognize that measures like merit pay and mayoral control are far too modest in their aims, today’s reformers get caught up in overwrought rhetoric and distracted by ineffectual tinkering.

Arguing that a fundamentally nineteenth-century system isn't capable of fulfilling our twenty first-century ambitions, Hess suggests that uniformity gets in the way of quality and a taste for ready-made "fixes" stifles necessary problem solving. He calls for a much wider variety of schooling options to better meet student needs and cultivate the different kinds of talents required in a vastly more complex and demanding society. Slashing through the tangled thickets of dogma on the left and right, he explains how we can clear the ground for transformation of the American school system.

Frederick M. Hess is director of education policy studies at AEI.

Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

Frederick M.
Hess
  • An educator, political scientist and author, Frederick M. Hess studies K-12 and higher education issues. His books include "Cage-Busting Leadership," "The Same Thing Over and Over," "Education Unbound," "Common Sense School Reform," "Revolution at the Margins," and "Spinning Wheels." He is also the author of the popular Education Week blog, "Rick Hess Straight Up." Hess's work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, National Affairs, the Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic and National Review. He has edited widely cited volumes on education philanthropy, school costs and productivity, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  Hess serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, and on the review boards for the Broad Prize in Urban Education and the Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools. He also serves on the boards of directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 SCHOOLS and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government, as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum, from Harvard University.


    Follow AEI Education Policy on Twitter

  • Email: rhess@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Max Eden
    Phone: 202-862-5933
    Email: max.eden@aei.org

What's new on AEI

image The Fed can't save the stock market again
image Obama's IRS and AP scandals cast big chill on free speech
image Organic industry's credibility eroded by misinformation about GE foods
image It's not universal coverage
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 20
    MON
  • 21
    TUE
  • 22
    WED
  • 23
    THU
  • 24
    FRI
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Free beer: Liberating libations from ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’

Join us for a discussion of the history and future of federal and state alcohol regulation and competition, followed by a reception with beer, wine, and spirits.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NCLB sanctions: Tests taken, lessons learned

Join education scholars and practitioners for a discussion about the latest NCLB research and its implications for future education policy.

Event Registration is Closed
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Competing visions of the common good: Rethinking help for the poor

What shared commitments do we have as citizens and neighbors to care for one another? How can a proper ordering of America’s political economy enable the most people to have the best life? At this event, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime champion of human rights causes, and AEI President Arthur Brooks will join Wallis in addressing these and other questions.

No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.