Discusses how to enable students to make sense of what they read through prior knowledge of events, etc.

From kindergarten through high school, our public educational system is among the worst in the developed world. For over fifty years, the assumption that challenging children academically is unnatural for them, that teachers do not need to know the subjects they teach, that the learning "process" should by emphasized over the facts taught has prevailed. all this is tragically wrong. As renowned educator and author E.D. Hirsch, Jr., argues in The Schools...

Hirsch shows why American students perform less well than students in other industrialized countries. Drawing on classroom observation, the history of ideas, and current scientific understanding of the patterns of intellectual growth, he builds the case that our schools have indeed made progress in teaching the mechanics of reading, but do not convey the more complex and essential content needed for reading comprehension. Hirsch reasons that literacy...

Presents a reference for parents of fourth-graders, and includes the entire curricula of a typical fourth grade classroom, including visual arts, music, math, science, poetry, stories, and history.

Provides an introduction to the fundamentals of math, science, art, history, language, geography, and knowledge.

Born out of centuries of conflict and experimentation, America's public school system is one of the nation's most significant but still unfinished achievements. This four part series, narrated by Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep, is a compelling odyssey that weaves archival footage, rare interviews, and on site coverage into an unprecedented portrait of public education in America.