The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity will Determine Our Future

Linda Darling-Hammond, 2010

Linda Darling-Hammond asked the key questions educators throughout the country need to be addressing head on!  Not only did she articulate the key questions, but she also provided the historical context to begin to understand the true challenge and complexity educators, students and all of society face today if we are serious about addressing the inequity in our schools.  Each chapter provides the foundation — from our “legacy of educational inequality” to moving “toward genuine school reform.”   Her discussion of looking at our dilemma as an Opportunity Gap is on the mark.  Linda also provides a path for us to take this “incredible journey.” The consequences of not taking the first and subsequent steps on the journey are so devastating it would be difficult to imagine our future as a country in which we declare “equality and justice for all.”  The issues are not new.  Even many of the questions are not new.  However, Linda has provided the reader with the strategies and necessary infrastructure needed in our educational system that not only gives Hope but also a Clear Direction. The question facing every person in the United States is, will we step up and count ourselves as part of the movement to not only “Save our Schools,” but also the future of our nation?.

Review by Chris Lamm.