Our Future Success Demands New Systems of Education

A new book by Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University proposes a clear set of policies that can be used to create high-quality and equitable schools. In The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future, Darling-Hammond bases her recommendations on the successes of effective school systems in the U.S. and abroad, and looks at the roots of our modern education system and how skills required for our 21st-century global economy cannot be learned in traditional education systems. Darling-Hammond identifies an “opportunity gap” that has evolved as new kinds of learning have become necessary — a gap that leaves low-income students, students of color, and English language learners without the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curricula, and well-resourced classrooms. “Once again, 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,” says advance reviewer Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In this volume, the macro meets the micro on terms that lets all democratically-minded citizens breathe a sigh of relief.” For more information refer to http://www.srnleads.org/resources/publications/flatworld.html.