Cutting Class

In the tradition of George S. Counts but generally without his optimism, Kincheloe and Steinberg have assembled a critique of American schooling. Their title, Cutting Class, is a double entendre reflecting their charge that an educational structure that once made class differences a critical element in understanding students' progress has been dismantled. They argue that this structure was a victim of educational accountability generally, and No Child Left Behind particularly. Considerations of social class, they maintain, have been largely displaced by a focus on ethnic and gender differences, and the result is a system that misses the most important variable to understanding educational progress. Not surprisingly, the material in the chapters reflects the contributors' preference for a qualitative, often ethnographic analysis. There are the obligatory swipes at Murray and Herrnstein, but the result is at least provocative. Philip Anderson's chapter on curriculum and social class is particularly good. -- D.E. Tanner, California State University, Fresno