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One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment of School
When Nikhil Goyal was in high school, he wrote this book, One Size Does Not Fit All. It offers a groundbreaking prescription for transforming American schools. Drawing from hundreds of interviews with renowned thinkers like Howard Gardner, Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Noam Chomsky, Diane Ravitch, and Frank Bruni, he calls to radically redefine the way the country does schooling. From implementing an anti-disciplinary curriculum to reinventing the teaching profession, his propositions are timely and provocative. Goyal walks us through the tenets of the system, shattering claims dispersed in the education conversation. Goyal presses questions like, What if we tailored education to every single child?; What if students' voices were heard and students were seen as human beings, not numbers in a spreadsheet?; and What if school became an incubator of innovation and a bridge between the community and the world?
- GenresEducationNonfiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2012
10 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Nikhil Goyal
5 books73 followersNikhil Goyal is a sociologist and author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty (Metropolitan/Macmillan, 2023). He served as senior policy advisor on education and children for Chairman Senator Bernie Sanders on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on the Budget. He developed education, child care, and child tax credit federal legislation as well as a tuition-free college program for incarcerated people and correctional workers in Vermont.
Goyal has appeared on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, and written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, The Nation, and other publications. He was a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace at Middlebury College and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at the Library Company and Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Goyal earned his B.A. at Goddard College and M.Phil and Ph.D at the University of Cambridge. He lives in Vermont.
Goyal has appeared on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, and written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, The Nation, and other publications. He was a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace at Middlebury College and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at the Library Company and Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Goyal earned his B.A. at Goddard College and M.Phil and Ph.D at the University of Cambridge. He lives in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 11, 2013
I was pointed to "One Size Does Not Fit All" by a talented and entrepreneurial high school student who shares Nikhil Goyal's views that education as it works today is not effective, either in deep learning now or in creating lifelong learners in the long run. Given that nearly every bit of conversation about education is adult-to-adult, it is refreshing to finally hear the views of students who have thought deeply about what they need from education.
Overall, I can's say I learned a huge amount from the book, but that is mostly a function of Goyal and I sharing a similar reading list. He is an extremely well-read young man - which I would of course say given the overlap of our interests :) - and interviewed many of these people for the book. For the kind of education reform that he describes in this book, there are a set of people who are truly worth listening to and/or talking with, and even if this book were just to introduce you to them, it would be worth reading.
However, what really makes this book is Goyal's inside perspective as a current high school student. Living through the tests, the teachers, the SATs and the standardized testing, and taking the AP classes, and then sharing his experiences with us makes this book a lens to examine what our kids are going through. And given that this is the experience of a very sharp young man in a high performing high school should give us pause when it comes to considering the experience of kids who are not in that kind of advantaged situation. In this way, he speaks not only to we adults who want to again look at education from our "customer's" point of view (and make no mistake these kids are our customers), but to students of all ages who might want to know that there are others out there who feel as they do. He lets them know that not only is it OK to have doubts, but that they can question the assumptions, push the boundaries, and make education into something valuable to each of them.
All that said, the book has the feel of solutions by a 17-year old - very simple, cut and dried, "of course we do *that*" types of actions. Please note that this is not a specific criticism of Goyal, because the depth and breadth his discussion puts many adults to shame. It's just that when dealing with large systems of interconnected parts - like education systems - solutions often need to more subtle and take into account a larger number of forces, which is where a lifetime of experience tends to be of help when creating solutions. That said, the education system, which often moves in geologic time, could use a kick from the young Goyals of the world, summed up in his paragraph: "In my life, I'm sick and tired of hearing excuses and whining and carping. Don't tell me you can do something. To be successful, sometimes you will need to step on some shoes, push over some people, and shun the non-believers." In that sense he reminds me of Roger Shank - willing to be prickly and politically incorrect to make change happen.
If you want to truly think about questioning the assumption behind our educational system, then I can recommend this book highly. I'm look forward to more from Nikhil Goyal, because even at 17 (and *especially at 17) he's somebody worth listening to.
Overall, I can's say I learned a huge amount from the book, but that is mostly a function of Goyal and I sharing a similar reading list. He is an extremely well-read young man - which I would of course say given the overlap of our interests :) - and interviewed many of these people for the book. For the kind of education reform that he describes in this book, there are a set of people who are truly worth listening to and/or talking with, and even if this book were just to introduce you to them, it would be worth reading.
However, what really makes this book is Goyal's inside perspective as a current high school student. Living through the tests, the teachers, the SATs and the standardized testing, and taking the AP classes, and then sharing his experiences with us makes this book a lens to examine what our kids are going through. And given that this is the experience of a very sharp young man in a high performing high school should give us pause when it comes to considering the experience of kids who are not in that kind of advantaged situation. In this way, he speaks not only to we adults who want to again look at education from our "customer's" point of view (and make no mistake these kids are our customers), but to students of all ages who might want to know that there are others out there who feel as they do. He lets them know that not only is it OK to have doubts, but that they can question the assumptions, push the boundaries, and make education into something valuable to each of them.
All that said, the book has the feel of solutions by a 17-year old - very simple, cut and dried, "of course we do *that*" types of actions. Please note that this is not a specific criticism of Goyal, because the depth and breadth his discussion puts many adults to shame. It's just that when dealing with large systems of interconnected parts - like education systems - solutions often need to more subtle and take into account a larger number of forces, which is where a lifetime of experience tends to be of help when creating solutions. That said, the education system, which often moves in geologic time, could use a kick from the young Goyals of the world, summed up in his paragraph: "In my life, I'm sick and tired of hearing excuses and whining and carping. Don't tell me you can do something. To be successful, sometimes you will need to step on some shoes, push over some people, and shun the non-believers." In that sense he reminds me of Roger Shank - willing to be prickly and politically incorrect to make change happen.
If you want to truly think about questioning the assumption behind our educational system, then I can recommend this book highly. I'm look forward to more from Nikhil Goyal, because even at 17 (and *especially at 17) he's somebody worth listening to.
December 21, 2021
The grammar was questionable in many parts of the book. I do not completely disagree that test scores can poorly indicate how teachers and students perform. Except, do you have to be able to quantify something with respect to teachers and students just so that you could get a good idea on who is good or bad.
Goyal was pretty accurate about why school in America sucks. Sadly, we will not leave America better place than it had been by its previous inhabitants.
Goyal was pretty accurate about why school in America sucks. Sadly, we will not leave America better place than it had been by its previous inhabitants.
November 11, 2012
Nikhil Goyal’s book One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School is a brilliant new book that presents a bold and revolutionary plan for the future of education. The style is fun and easy to read while Mr. Goyal’s meticulous research demonstrates what specifically is not working in the American school system and how these problems compare with school systems worldwide and shows how this impacts the workforce and economy. His solutions for transforming education are creative and plausible and absolutely essential if we care at all about today or the future. Policymakers should start listening to the students and teachers. This book is the call to action we’ve been waiting for. I hope Mr. Goyal becomes the U.S. Secretary of Education, as nominated by Diane Ravitch. This book is a must-read.
October 11, 2013
This was perhaps the most important book I will read this year. I am proud to know that Nikhil Goyal exists and will be a leader in this country for a long time. I am grateful to his parents and teachers for raising such a fine young man. Sadly, his is the kind of vision that doesn't survive the bureaucracy and politics of our republic. I say, give him a school system to run and let's see how he does. I would also be interested in a sequel that explores the relationship between the changes he advocates for the teaching profession and the roles of the teacher unions and tenure.
January 28, 2013
Why education needs changing ... from an insightful student perspective.
May 2, 2013
Great book every parent should read it as we'll as every teacher.
December 7, 2014
Outstanding read!! He is supported by Howard Gardner! Step down Arne Duncan, Nikhil is here with a real plan!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews