num_pages: 336
description: The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty.It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual lazy teachers shoddy facilities lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension skills at the expense of actual knowledge . In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars  Wexler brings together history research and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers journalists and policymakers have long overlooked and of which the general public including many parents remains unaware.But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits and describes the rewards that have come students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children we have no choice but to pay attention.
language: English
title: The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System--and How to Fix it
publisher: Avery