The Right to Learn

"In The Right to Learn, Linda Darling-Hammond gives readers a comprehensive, thoughtful look at the condition of American schooling and sets forth proposals for its improvement . . . . This well-organized and meticulously documented book presents an agenda for re-creating public education." (Washington Post)

"Darling-Hammond's central claim is well worth listening to. She argues that American students do so poorly by comparison with students in other industrialized countries not because we don't give them enough work, but because our teaching is less thoughtful, and because we are obsessed with bureaucratic processes rather than educational outcomes." (The New York Times Book Review)

"This is a very fine work-well argued, comprehensive, and authoritative. It will be treated as a Bible-or, more properly, a Constitution-by those seriously engaged in the improvement of American public education." (Howard Gardner, professor of education, Harvard University, and author of Leading Minds)

"If only I could get every American who claims to be concerned about our schools to read this thorough, readable, and brilliant book. Linda Darling-Hammond knows our schools as no one else does-as a scholar, hands-on researcher, practitioner, concerned citizen, and parent. She crosses all the boundaries that so often divide us. And all sides of her diverse strengths show in her work and in this extraordinary book. As a reader you'll love it, and you'll come away wise as well." (Deborah Meier, senior fellow, Annenberg Institute of School Reform, author of The Power of Their Ideas, and principal, The Mission Hill school, Boston)