All the time, I run into people in the arts field who ask me to explain exactly what the hell is going on with K-12 education. Between vouchers, choice, turnaround, merit pay, alternative certification, race to the top, race to the bottom, AYP, value-added assessment, process-driven goals, backwards-mapped curriculum, and more, trying to get a handle on what all this means can conjure up one gigantic state of cognitive dissonance.

So, let’s say you can only deal with one book that will explain it all.

This is the book for you.

Run, don’t walk to your nearest computer and order it from amazon.com.

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch.