Problems of schooling in the United States are explored in the monograph. Major educational problems are grouped in two categories--confusion over educational objectives and a rush to solve vaguely understood educational problems with ill-conceived action. Perspectives on educational objectives can be organized into three major approaches which stress 1) what schools are asked, expected, or called upon to do (goals); 2) what schools do or are used for (functions); and 3) what schools should do (aims). These approaches to the question of what schools are for are complicated by recent demands that schools fulfill variously defined social purposes in addition to more traditional functions such as teaching children to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. Educators and policy makers should focus reform efforts on a given population of students in a community setting rather than on the total school system, encourage communication between the principal and teachers, strive for positive interactions with administrators and superintendents, encourage a wide variety of instructional modes in accordance with individual and class needs, and mobilize community resources for educational and cultural enrichment. The conclusion is that schools can best fulfill their prime role of developing the full potential of each individual by concentrating on educational functions in a common school setting. (DB)