Too Simple to Fail: A Case for Educational Change

This new book is based on a premise neither novel nor eye-opening: “Learning comes from time on task, delivered at a level appropriate to the student.” Years of data (and common sense) say that, too. What makes this volume interesting is where its author, a professor at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, takes this insight. Guided by the North Star of increased productive instructional time, the book criticizes almost every aspect of the current public education system—from school assemblies to sports to testing. Each of these “worthless” pursuits detracts from the time that students spend learning the curriculum. Instead, Barker Bausell urges a number of provocative changes. Among them: All schools should adopt a “zero-tolerance” approach to pupil behavior (because any distraction pulls students off task). Teachers should be evaluated based on the amount of time they spend delivering curriculum-relevant instruction (divergences are also unwanted distractions). And testing should be tied directly to curricular objectives (the SATs, for example, don’t make his A-list). Ultimately, Bausell sees classrooms being replaced with learning labs, each student learning at a computer able to tailor a lesson to meet individual needs, much like a private tutor. Unfortunately, as the book builds upon its original premise, cracks in the idea’s foundation are exposed—many of which are left unaddressed. How to ensure, for example, that teachers are following sufficiently rigorous curricula or that rote memorization doesn’t supersede deeper knowledge. Still and all, the book pushes readers to question current reforms. And that’s not a bad thing to do from time to time.