Examining in detail issues like equality of spending, testing in K-12 education, and teacher preparation, Stanford education professor Darling-Hammond (The Right to Learn) makes a clear, organized argument that, "like manufacturing industries that have struggled and gone under in recent decades, modern schools were designed at the turn of the last century," and are in desperate need of transformation. Using a straightforward style to examine complex issues, Darling-Hammond reveals the successful educational strategies around the world that are toppling the old educational guard, including a high degree of personalization that allows stronger, closer relationships among students, faculty, staff, and parents. Darling-Hammond doesn't shy away from difficult questions at the heart of seemingly-intractable academic issues; for example, "How is it that scores have been driven upward on the state tests required by No Child Left Behind, yet they have dropped on... international measures?" Scholarly and factual, well-researched and packed with astounding examples of the current climate of American education, this text should prove highly informative for educators, educational administrators, and involved parents throughout the U.S.