{"product_id":"why-knowledge-matters-rescuing-our-children-from-failed-educational-theories-9781612509525","title":"Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eWhy Knowledge Matters\u003c\/i\u003e, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., presents evidence from cognitive science, sociology, and education history to further the argument for a knowledge-based elementary curriculum.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInfluential scholar Hirsch, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Knowledge Deficit\u003c\/i\u003e, asserts that a carefully planned curriculum that imparts communal knowledge is essential in achieving one of the most fundamental aims and objectives of education: preparing students for lifelong success. Hirsch examines historical and contemporary evidence from the United States and other nations, including France, and affirms that a knowledge-based approach has improved both achievement and equity in schools where it has been instituted. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn contrast, educational change of the past several decades in the United States has endorsed a skills-based approach, founded on, Hirsch points out, many incorrect assumptions about child development and how children learn. He recommends new policies that are better aligned with our current understanding of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social science. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe book focuses on six persistent problems that merit the attention of contemporary education reform: the over-testing of students in the name of educational accountability; the scapegoating of teachers; the fadeout of preschool gains; the narrowing of the curriculum to crowd out history, geography, science, literature, and the arts; the achievement gap between demographic groups; and the reliance on standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, that are not linked to a rigorous curriculum. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhy Knowledge Matters\u003c\/i\u003e makes a clear case for educational innovation and introduces a new generation of American educators to Hirsch's astute and passionate analysis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eE. D. Hirsch, Jr.\u003c\/b\u003e, is the author of numerous books, including the bestsellers \u003ci\u003eCultural Literacy \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy\u003c\/i\u003e (both Houghton Mifflin). Other books by Hirsch on related subjects are \u003ci\u003eA First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy\u003c\/i\u003e (Mariner); the Core Knowledge Sequence, \u003ci\u003eWhat Your [First Through Sixth] Grader Needs to Know\u003c\/i\u003e (Doubleday); \u003ci\u003eThe Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them\u003c\/i\u003e (Anchor); and most recently, \u003ci\u003eThe Making of Americans\u003c\/i\u003e (Yale University Press). These works have influenced recent educational thought and practice in the United States and other countries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hirsch is a graduate of Cornell University, and holds master's and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He began his teaching career at Yale, specializing in Romantic Poetry and Literary Theory, and in 1966 became Professor of English at the University of Virginia, where he served twice as chairman of his department. Before his retirement in 2000 he held the position of University Professor of Education and Humanities. In 1977, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1997 to the International Academy of Education. He is the recipient of several honorary degrees, has been a Fulbright and a Guggenheim fellow, a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, a Humanities fellow at Princeton University, a fellow at the Australian National University, and an honoree of the Royal Dutch Academy and of the National Academy in Rome. He received the biennial QuEST award of the American Federation of Teachers in 1997, and the Fordham Award for Valor in Education in 2003. In 2012, the Education Commission of the States presented Hirsch with the Conant Award for \"Outstanding Contributions to American Education.\" He has served on many advisory boards, including the National Council on Educational Research. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hirsch is founder of the nonprofit Core Knowledge Foundation, an organization that continues to advise and help schools, with over one thousand Core Knowledge schools in forty-seven states and abroad.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Harvard Education PR","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50609195352338,"sku":"9781612509525","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2672b790-1d4c-4686-a118-30e0720dd374.jpg?v=1732328105","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/why-knowledge-matters-rescuing-our-children-from-failed-educational-theories-9781612509525","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}