Critics have long claimed that kids are getting dumber. Only in recent decades have schools been blamed for students' perceived ineptitude and our nation's declining competitiveness. Education indicators sagged around 1965 for a decade, then climbed to new highs. The schools shouldered the blame for the late 1980s recession, but got no credit for…

Explains five modern cultural paradoxes involving parental and school responsibility, the job/education connection, the globalism/tribalism relationship, the diversity/specialization issue, and the future orientation/nostalgia dichotomy. Proposes six school renewal principles concerning borrowed missions, policy realization,…

In response to recent nostalgia about education's past, the author reviews the reality of educational history. In the 1950s schools were affected by disruption and violence. In the 1930s declining standards were cited. In the teens there was a 50 percent dropout rate. In the 1900s problems of student boredom and violence were documented. (MD)