Summary of Thomas Sowell's Inside American Education

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The American educational system has been declining for years, and it has been made worse by the rise in grade inflation and cheating.

#2 American educational deficiencies extend far beyond mathematics. When asked if they thought they were good at mathematics, only 23 percent of American 13-year-olds said yes, compared to 68 percent of Korean 13-year-olds.

#3 American students are lacking in knowledge and the ability to tie what they know together to form a coherent chain of reasoning. Many American students seem unaware of the need for such a process.

#4 The phrase I feel is often used by American students to introduce a conclusion, rather than say I think, or I know, or even I conclude. This is often considered sufficient by many teachers and students.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822545656

IRB Media

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Insights on Thomas Sowell's Inside American Education

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The American educational system has been declining for years, and it has been made worse by the rise in grade inflation and cheating.

#2

American educational deficiencies extend far beyond mathematics. When asked if they thought they were good at mathematics, only 23 percent of American 13-year-olds said yes, compared to 68 percent of Korean 13-year-olds.

#3

American students are lacking in knowledge and the ability to tie what they know together to form a coherent chain of reasoning. Many American students seem unaware of the need for such a process.

#4

The phrase I feel is often used by American students to introduce a conclusion, rather than say I think, or I know, or even I conclude. This is often considered sufficient by many teachers and students.

#5

American students are not only failing to learn intellectual processes and knowledge bases, but they are also not acquiring the habits of study necessary to learn them.

#6

The process of making public school textbooks easier to read has been going on for so long that it has even acquired a well-known generic name: dumbing down.

#7

The educational system today is facing many of the same problems that the medical system faced in the 1960s. The responses of the educational establishment to these problems include secrecy, camouflage, denial, and demanding more money.

#8

There have been many attempts to blame the failures of American schools on factors outside of the school, such as the changing social composition of students. However, this does not explain the particular pattern that we see.

#9

The fact that Catholic and other private schools have produced better academic results than the public schools in some low-income, crime-ridden neighborhoods does not explain the downward trend of American education in general.

#10

The education establishment often blames a lack of funding for its problems. However, this is often not the case. More money doesn’t always mean better education.

#11

The education establishment has also resorted to deception to hide the fact that more money does not always produce better education. While America ranks near the top in per-pupil expenditures, its students often rank at or near the bottom.

#12

The claim that more money translates into better education is also blatantly false at the college level. As more money has poured into colleges and universities over the past half-century, the amount of time professors have spent teaching has decreased, while the amount of time they have spent researching has increased.

#13

The spread of the publish-or-perish principle reinforces a drive for research at the expense of teaching. More money does not translate into better education, at the college or university level.

#14

American education is undermined by numerous dogmas and hidden agendas. The dogmas about education are sweeping beliefs about the role of education,