Books reviewed: "Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom" by William Ayers and "Pedagogy of Indignation" by Paulo Freire.

Reviews Ravitch's "Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms," suggesting that: the book is tedious, its documentation is limited, it neglects important reform movements, and it presents troubling accusations about an elitist attitude in public education which has historically been detrimental to the underprivileged. The review asserts that…

Notes that Prawat claimed that Dewey was indebted to Peirce, that Dewey never gave Peirce the credit he deserved, and that Dewey's acceptance of Peirce's ideas in 1915 represented a discontinuity in Dewey's thinking. This paper concludes that a comparison of two versions of Dewey's "How We Think" (1910 and 1933) does not provide the support Prawat…

In an essay-review of "Lucy Sprague Mitchell: The Making of a Modern Woman," four themes which are important to teachers today are discussed. These themes (teacher as educator, as autobiographer, as citizen, and as researcher) are discussed in their biographical, historical, and current contexts. (JL)

Book review discusses Howard Gardner's belief that schools typically fail in their most important missions, and accurate diagnosis is necessary for more effective education. Gardner recommends educating disciplinary experts who can help students integrate prescholastic and scholastic ways of knowing. A response by Gardner is included. (SM)

Five articles comment on Chubb and Terry M. Moe's book "Politics, Markets, and America's Schools": (1) Choice in Education: Examining the Evidence on Equity; (2) Politics, Markets, and America's Schools: A Review; (3) Political Pollyannas; (4) Degrees of Imperfection: A Note from a Political Pollyanna; and (5) Thoughts on Choice. (SM)

This commentary on Patricia Graham's "S.O.S.: Sustain our Schools" focuses on Graham's view that many of the problems that create a need for school reform and impede it are embedded in society. The article discusses an integrated services approach to improving schools for at-risk children. (IAH)

This commentary expands on Patricia Graham's discussion, in her book "S.O.S.: Sustain Our Schools," of the role of higher education institutions in school reform. The article discusses issues surrounding how knowledge is being created in teacher education and the forms it is taking, the role of school-university partnerships, and new…

This article summarizes and comments on some of the major points made by Patricia Graham in "S.O.S.: Sustain Our Schools": U.S. schools never successfully educated all children; there is no "silver bullet" solution to the problems of schools; and many problems associated with schools actually come from failures in other realms of social policy.…