The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System--and How to Fix it

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 1,428 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 01-03-2025


About this item

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis - and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty.

It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system - one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware.

But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong - it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.


Top reviews from the United States

  • SLK
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Learning
    Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2024
    As a Special Educator for over 23 years, I never stop learning new strategies to apply and teach to my students. This book is a very interesting read and I glad that it was referred to me by a colleague.
  • David
    5.0 out of 5 stars Opened my eyes
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2024
    As a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician (DBP) this book opened my eyes to a lot of things in the world of schools and education that I wish I had understood earlier in my career. Well written with a good balance between exposition and illustrative story telling, I plan to give this book to every DBP-in-training I teach from this point forward. I also will use it's insights to advise parents of struggling students and advocate for them with teachers and school administrators. Overall one of the 3 or 4 best reads I've had in the past 5 years.
  • Joy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024
    Book arrived quickly and in perfect condition. This book is a great resource for teachers that work with students on literacy and reading fluency skills.
  • Christopher Anthony
    4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and aspirational
    Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2024
    I loved reading this book. The premise makes sense to me intuitively, and I like the idea of leveraging cognitive psychology research when managing the classroom and curriculum. The book is well written, told in units of historical narrative that were interesting to read, and informative of the history of the Common Core.

    My main criticism is that I wish that more was done to substantiate the claim that the knowledge-focused method of teaching works at scale. Wexler mentions, for example, that one of her model schools following a knowledge curriculum was not achieving higher test scores than other schools in the state, despite lots of anecdotal evidence of higher engagement with the material, and despite the Common Core being written to allow knowledge-based curricula. But she doesn't give an explanation for why. But a book can't cover everything, and I would recommend this one as an introduction to knowledge curricula.

    I feel inspired by this book and optimistic that its approach is productive. I wasn't aware of the importance of building knowledge for building reading comprehension. The opposition to abstracting all education into "skills", like we can do in math, resonates with me intuitively, and I'm grateful that this book introduced me to the idea.
  • C C
    5.0 out of 5 stars A book that finally answers education's most important question--where's the beef?
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2021
    As a homeschooling parent I often look for insights about what to teach, how to teach, and what the best and worst education models look like in the country. This book finally put to words what I couldn't quite pinpoint: schools rarely teach actual content. I would often scour syllabi from various institutions to try and uncover what knowledge I should be imparting on my children, and wondered why such material was kept under wraps. Turned out... it seldom exists! I also had no clue of the politicization behind content-based vs child-led learning. I also didn't know E.D. Hirsch--whose books I have on my own shelf ("What Your First Grader/Kindergartener Needs to Know")--was a dirty name in some education circles.

    Practically and intuitively, this book affirms what I've noticed with my own children: they simply can't analyze what they don't know; they don't know what they haven't been taught; and they can't be taught without delving into rich material. The homeschooling legend Susan Wise Bauer instills this theme when she articulates that early years are meant to instill facts and parents shouldn't shy away from rote memorization. But, when one hears of children in school learning fancy things like "drawing conclusions" and "extrapolating broader themes from the text," it's hard not to wonder if your child will be left behind if she is unable to do these things when handed a book. After receiving one too many blank stares or frustrating non-answers, I ditched these lofty expectations and went back to what I now identify as content-based learning. Still, there was a sense of defeat in wondering why my 6-year-old child couldn't meet these standards: Was it her? My teaching? How in the world are other kids able to manage? I finally resigned and thought, "She can't cite evidence from the book to support her inferences, but she can read this book quickly and fluently... and I guess she knows about other things like the urethra and Sargon of Akkad, so I suppose that will be okay for now." In many ways this book was a big relief--not only is such a method "okay" but the pivot to imparting actual science and history is setting the child up for success. I appreciated other takeaways, like pivoting away from fluff-based writing prompts ("tell me about your favorite dress") to meatier ones grounded in history lessons ("what did the countries along the silk road trade with each other, and what would be your favorite import?"). Great book. A must-read for any educator.
  • Karen Oneil
    5.0 out of 5 stars A highly readable, comprehensive, and persuasive analysis of literacy instruction
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2019
    As a long time teacher who has come only lately to urban education, I have been puzzled about why improving reading comprehension remains such an intractable problem, particularly in high poverty schools. Surely it is not lack of attention, nor of creative thought nor of ample resources that can explain why our progress has been so uneven. Wexler's book offers an eye opening account of the limitations of our current approach to reading instruction and a persuasive case for how we might improve it. The book begins with carefully observed and beautifully described accounts of actual classroom instruction in reading. It continues with meticulously researched analysis of the history of reading instruction and the pedagogy and cultural influences that have led to our current approach. It goes on to make a highly persuasive case for teaching reading as part of a stimulating, content rich curriculum, one which will not only make our students better readers and writers, but will provide them the background knowledge that will assure their success as they continue their education. Wexler brings unique skills to this undertaking. As a journalist, she is a superb writer, whose accounts of children and teachers are charming and perceptive. As an education researcher, she provides comprehensive context for each of her assertions, and as a lawyer she makes a most persuasive case for how we can do dramatically better for our students.

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