The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"

In this provocative and well-researched book, Alfie Kohn builds a powerful argument against “teaching to the test” in favor of more child-centered curriculums to raise lifelong learners. Drawing on stories from real classrooms and extensive research, Kohn shows parents, educators, and others how schools can help students explore ideas rather than just fill them with forgettable facts and prepare them for standardized tests. Here, at last, is a book that challenges the two dominant forces in American education: an aggressive nostalgia for traditional teaching (“If it was bad enough for me, it’s bad enough for my kids”) and a heavy-handed push for “tougher standards.”

But if we move beyond these outdated ideas, what does better education actually look like?

• Beyond "Back to Basics": Discover why traditional, teacher-centered instruction often fails and what a truly progressive, child-centered classroom looks like in practice.
• Rethinking Motivation: Learn why a focus on grades, tests, and other external rewards can actually undermine a student’s desire to learn—and what fosters genuine, lasting curiosity.
• Authentic Assessment: Move past the limits of standardized testing with practical, research-backed alternatives that show what students truly understand, not just what they can memorize.
• Constructivist Classrooms: Explore schools where students are active meaning-makers, exploring ideas and solving problems rather than passively receiving forgettable facts.