He offers more flame than light. His book is laced with harsh opinions rarely anchored in fact. When he does mention reports, such as Harold Wenglinsky's ETS report, he misrepresents their findings, as he does on page 84 of his book. Federal and state policymakers should target teacher training efforts at high-poverty urban and rural schools, which have much lower percentages of teachers receiving such training. Or read summaries at Education Week . . .
School systems appear to be waking up to the important role played by teacher training.
Survey results from the 1996 NAEP show 81 percent of the nation's 4th graders had teachers who had received professional development with computers within the past five years, and 76 percent of 8th graders had math teachers who had received such training within the past five years. And given teachers' frequent complaints about the quality of professional development in general, many education experts believe that most technology training likely leaves plenty to be desired. Wenglinsky, in fact, says he was struck by the fact that any amount of professional development translated into student achievement gains. Throughout his book, Stoll makes dozens of sweeping statements and characterizations as fact without providing substantial evidence. He does not even bother to list sources in a bibliography at the end of the book.