Despite attempts to reform American public schools, evidence abounds that their general performance remains mediocre. In his new book Common Sense School Reform, AEI scholar Frederick M. Hess explains why reform attempts by administrators who "tinker and theorize" consistently fail to improve results, and he presents an alternative model of common sense reforms that he argues will truly promote academic excellence.

Researchers estimated in 2001 that only 32 percent of high school students graduated with basic literacy skills and completed courses that would allow them to proceed on to college. The 2001 National Assessment of Educational Progress deemed a mere 31 percent of fourth graders and 32 percent of eighth graders "proficient" in reading, with 37 percent of fourth graders and 26 percent of eighth graders scoring below even basic reading levels.

One approach to these systemic failures, according to Hess, has been "status quo" reform, which he finds ineffective largely because of its dependence upon greater funding without fundamental changes to requirements and standards. Additionally, Hess criticizes status quo reformers who run school systems, schools of education, and education bureaucracies as stumbling blocks to real reform.

Hess advocates common sense reform based on accountability and flexibility. The underlying goal for common sense reformers is to construct schools wherein "success is expected, excellence is rewarded, and failure is not tolerated." Common sense reformers believe that teachers will be more effective when held accountable for student performance, when rewarded for excellence, and when "given opportunities to devise new paths to success."

These reforms challenge schools to focus on teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as science and history. The effectiveness of teaching, in this view, should be measured by test-based accountability and greater market competition between schools when teachers fail to provide quality education for their students. School systems should actively recruit teachers of the highest skill and nurture their development upon hiring, and teachers who excel at teaching should be recognized and compensated accordingly. As Hess distills the message, these proposals rest upon a solid foundation of "responsibility, merit, and opportunity."