Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform since Sputnik

by Chester E. Finn Jr.

Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a prolific and best-selling writer, a think-tank analyst, a nonprofit foundation president, and both a Democrat and Republican. This remarkably varied career has given him an extraordinary insider's view of every significant school-reform movement of the past four decades, from racial integration to No Child Left Behind. In Troublemaker , Finn has written a vivid history of postwar education reform that is also the personal story of one of the foremost players--and mavericks--in American education.


Finn tells how his experiences have shaped his changing views of the three major strands of postwar school standards-driven, choice-driven, and profession-driven. Of the three, Finn now believes that a combination of choice and standards has the greatest potential, but he favors this approach more on pragmatic than ideological grounds, arguing that parents should be given more options at the same time that schools are allowed more flexibility and held to higher performance norms. He also explains why education reforms of all kinds are so difficult to implement, and he draws valuable lessons from their frequent failure.


Clear-eyed yet optimistic, Finn ultimately gives grounds for hope that the best of today's bold initiatives--from charter schools to technology to makeovers of school-system governance--are finally beginning to make a difference.

Genres: Education

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Kelly McCarville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in general. This book is an interesting history of the education system in America, although my attention waned as it went on. I could have gone without the segments about his personal life and career, and I did end up skipping those parts about halfway through. It does give good insight into the current ways under debate for bettering our education system.

[Deb]

Why is "education reform" such a dirty word(s)? Maybe this book will help me understand.

[Kevin Kosar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. (Disclosure: I know the author.) I reviewed it for The American at http://www.american.com/archive/2008/...

[Corin]

Eh. Interesting, but not gripping.