What do you think?
Rate this book
Addicted to Reform: A 12-Step Program to Rescue Public Education
The prize-winning PBS correspondent's provocative antidote to America's misguided approaches to K-12 school reform
During an illustrious four-decade career at NPR and PBS, John Merrow―winner of the George Polk Award, the Peabody Award, and the McGraw Prize―reported from every state in the union, as well as from dozens of countries, on everything from the rise of district-wide cheating scandals and the corporate greed driving an ADD epidemic to teacher-training controversies and America's obsession with standardized testing. Along the way, he taught in a high school, at a historically black college, and at a federal penitentiary. Now, the revered education correspondent of PBS NewsHour distills his best thinking on education into a twelve-step approach to fixing a K–12 system that Merrow describes as being "addicted to reform" but unwilling to address the real American public schools are ill-equipped to prepare young people for the challenges of the twenty-first century. This insightful book looks at how to turn digital natives into digital citizens and why it should be harder to become a teacher but easier to be one. Merrow offers smart, essential chapters―including "Measure What Matters," and "Embrace Teachers"―that reflect his countless hours spent covering classrooms as well as corridors of power. His signature candid style of reportage comes to life as he shares lively anecdotes, schoolyard tales, and memories that are at once instructive and endearing. Addicted to Reform is written with the kind of passionate concern that could come only from a lifetime devoted to the people and places that constitute the foundation of our nation. It is a "big book" that forms an astute and urgent blueprint for providing a quality education to every American child.
During an illustrious four-decade career at NPR and PBS, John Merrow―winner of the George Polk Award, the Peabody Award, and the McGraw Prize―reported from every state in the union, as well as from dozens of countries, on everything from the rise of district-wide cheating scandals and the corporate greed driving an ADD epidemic to teacher-training controversies and America's obsession with standardized testing. Along the way, he taught in a high school, at a historically black college, and at a federal penitentiary. Now, the revered education correspondent of PBS NewsHour distills his best thinking on education into a twelve-step approach to fixing a K–12 system that Merrow describes as being "addicted to reform" but unwilling to address the real American public schools are ill-equipped to prepare young people for the challenges of the twenty-first century. This insightful book looks at how to turn digital natives into digital citizens and why it should be harder to become a teacher but easier to be one. Merrow offers smart, essential chapters―including "Measure What Matters," and "Embrace Teachers"―that reflect his countless hours spent covering classrooms as well as corridors of power. His signature candid style of reportage comes to life as he shares lively anecdotes, schoolyard tales, and memories that are at once instructive and endearing. Addicted to Reform is written with the kind of passionate concern that could come only from a lifetime devoted to the people and places that constitute the foundation of our nation. It is a "big book" that forms an astute and urgent blueprint for providing a quality education to every American child.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2017
17 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
John Merrow
12 books8 followersJohn Merrow began his career as an education reporter with National Public Radio nearly 40 years ago with the weekly series, Options in Education, for which he received the George Polk Award in 1982. He is currently Education Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and President of Learning Matters, an independent production company based in New York City.
An occasional contributor to USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Education Week, Merrow is also the author of The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership (2011), Choosing Excellence (2001), and co-editor of Declining by Degrees (2005).
Merrow earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in American Studies from Indiana University, and a doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education in 2012, a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Academy Of Education Arts And Sciences in 2012, the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education in 2000, the HGSE Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education in 2006, The Horace Dutton Taft Medal in 2010, and honorary doctorates from Richard Stockton College (NJ) and Paul Smith’s College (NY).
He lives in New York City with his wife, Joan Lonergan, the Head of the Hewitt School.
John Merrow also maintains a weekly blog, Taking Note.
An occasional contributor to USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Education Week, Merrow is also the author of The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership (2011), Choosing Excellence (2001), and co-editor of Declining by Degrees (2005).
Merrow earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in American Studies from Indiana University, and a doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education in 2012, a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Academy Of Education Arts And Sciences in 2012, the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education in 2000, the HGSE Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education in 2006, The Horace Dutton Taft Medal in 2010, and honorary doctorates from Richard Stockton College (NJ) and Paul Smith’s College (NY).
He lives in New York City with his wife, Joan Lonergan, the Head of the Hewitt School.
John Merrow also maintains a weekly blog, Taking Note.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 2, 2018
An excellent and deeply thought-provoking objective review and analysis of the American educational system and the various efforts over the last 30+ years to “reform” it. The author is the long-time education reporter for National Public Radio and PBS. Without taking any particular political stance on issues, he documents the failures and unintended consequences of such initiatives as the Common Core, Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind, Charter Schools, home-schooling, test-based evaluation of teachers, for-profit educational institutions and the Gates Foundation investments, and he proposes 12 principles to make education truly responsive to the learning needs of every student. An educator myself, I found myself wincing at some of the author’s pointed observations and nodding at many others. But all such observations are made on the basis of well documented research and reporting. In the end, I was persuaded by the author’s analyses.
April 18, 2018
As a former student, former teacher, current employee at a community college, and parent of both an elementary music teacher and a high school student classified as special-needs, I have a strong interest in education, and I found John Merrow's book very interesting. He raises lots of good questions. In the end, however, I didn't find it very clear either where we need to go or how to get there.
He emphasizes teaching students to answer "how" questions instead of "what" questions, but I think it's more a matter of picking the right "what" questions that will lead to understanding the "how." He talks about not segregating by age quite so much - which I have long thought is one of the problems in how our schools are structured - but gives no details on how that would work out in practice. He gives some examples of students creating knowledge rather than simply being recipients of knowledge, but aside from the fact that they seem more applicable to older grades, it's hard to see how that could form the basis of everyday instruction, as opposed to a special project using knowledge they have gained in everyday instruction.
In general, I found a lot of the good things he said to describe the schools my sons have gone to - not all the time, but enough that I am very pleased we moved to the district we did. I don't know just what makes one district better than another, or how to change one that is not-so-good into a better one. If I were a parent in a not-so-good district, I'm sure my desire would be to move, rather than to try to change a system very resistant to change (as most systems, educational or otherwise, are). And perhaps that is part of the problem - but changing that requires a clear set of steps to follow, and the "twelve steps" Merrow offers are more general principles than actual steps.
He emphasizes teaching students to answer "how" questions instead of "what" questions, but I think it's more a matter of picking the right "what" questions that will lead to understanding the "how." He talks about not segregating by age quite so much - which I have long thought is one of the problems in how our schools are structured - but gives no details on how that would work out in practice. He gives some examples of students creating knowledge rather than simply being recipients of knowledge, but aside from the fact that they seem more applicable to older grades, it's hard to see how that could form the basis of everyday instruction, as opposed to a special project using knowledge they have gained in everyday instruction.
In general, I found a lot of the good things he said to describe the schools my sons have gone to - not all the time, but enough that I am very pleased we moved to the district we did. I don't know just what makes one district better than another, or how to change one that is not-so-good into a better one. If I were a parent in a not-so-good district, I'm sure my desire would be to move, rather than to try to change a system very resistant to change (as most systems, educational or otherwise, are). And perhaps that is part of the problem - but changing that requires a clear set of steps to follow, and the "twelve steps" Merrow offers are more general principles than actual steps.
February 21, 2018
Hats off to Merrow, who sets presents a process for all of us to rethink education, based on “How is a child intelligent, not how intelligent is a child? Think learning styles and Multiple Intelligences (applause to all of Jung’s followers and H. Gardner). He clearly presents the extraordinary amount of class time used to teach to the test, the financial drain on school districts by charter schools, and excessive federal regulations which accompany federal monies for education,
I have been an educator for 50 years, as a classroom teacher, building administrator, teacher preparation professor, and associate dean in teacher preparation. I have observed teacher candidates teaching to the test, or not being able to teach because of the hours/days/weeks/months of testing in late spring, as a tax payer, I feel greater accountability is required for charter schools, in reality they should operate as intended, not as a profit organization.
Merrow relates that in general school districts receive about 6% at most from the federal government, I would prefer not receiving the federal money which would result in not needing to comply with the regulations, including the cost in millions for testing, with some earnest attention to district’s budgets, the +/- 6% might be absorbed with little if any tax increase.
Now is the time to save public education, it must be done. Addicted to Reform is a must read!
I have been an educator for 50 years, as a classroom teacher, building administrator, teacher preparation professor, and associate dean in teacher preparation. I have observed teacher candidates teaching to the test, or not being able to teach because of the hours/days/weeks/months of testing in late spring, as a tax payer, I feel greater accountability is required for charter schools, in reality they should operate as intended, not as a profit organization.
Merrow relates that in general school districts receive about 6% at most from the federal government, I would prefer not receiving the federal money which would result in not needing to comply with the regulations, including the cost in millions for testing, with some earnest attention to district’s budgets, the +/- 6% might be absorbed with little if any tax increase.
Now is the time to save public education, it must be done. Addicted to Reform is a must read!
March 20, 2022
Some of the steps in this 12-step program feel more fleshed out than others; I don't know if the AA/addiction framing added to the reading experience. Generally Merrow is better at explaining the problems (standardized testing, superficially increasing graduation rates, charter schools being opaque with spending) than the solutions (project based learning, changing teacher prep programs, incorporating technology in the classroom). With a lot of the solutions I don't know if he fully considers what it would mean to implement them. For example if I did project based learning all year in my class, would students still learn the content they need in order to be successful in an intro college math class? I'm skeptical. I did like reading Merrow's accounts of all the education reporting he's done over the years (he started reporting in the 60s or 70s or something so he's really seen it all).
December 13, 2017
Inspiring
I was eagerly awaiting this book's release since I read the summary a few weeks ago. I left my teaching job of 10 years for many of the reasons outlined in this book. But, I have not lost my passion for education. I am inspired by Mr. Merrow's vision. I would love to be part of the change he envisions. I believe every educator, administrator, school board member and politician needs to read this book. As an educator, some of the facts and observations Mr. Merrow writes about made me cringe. But, rather than get defensive, I hope many in education will be humbled and embrace the need for a rebuild. So glad I read this book!
I was eagerly awaiting this book's release since I read the summary a few weeks ago. I left my teaching job of 10 years for many of the reasons outlined in this book. But, I have not lost my passion for education. I am inspired by Mr. Merrow's vision. I would love to be part of the change he envisions. I believe every educator, administrator, school board member and politician needs to read this book. As an educator, some of the facts and observations Mr. Merrow writes about made me cringe. But, rather than get defensive, I hope many in education will be humbled and embrace the need for a rebuild. So glad I read this book!
February 7, 2018
I find the linkage of his 12 steps to the AA 12 steps only lightly connected, which was a relief. Merrow isn't asking us to turn the fate of the education system over to a higher power; instead he exposes the powers that be in our current regime of reforms. The various reforms always require training, consultants and tests, lots of tests. All of these things cost money and make profit for the administration of schools, which become bloated with consultants and oversight, usually based on tests. One of his major points is that teachers are held responsible for their students test scores, and schools are awarded funding based on the test scores. Yet many factors play into why students learn or don't learn and these are not always within the teachers control. Social class, often linked to race in the US, and family stability are major factors, which cannot be addressed by feeding programs in the schools, and have a significant effect on testing. Teachers are also not stable in low paying jobs which rewards those who are longest employed.
About the time Merrow became an educational reporter for NPR, I worked on a School Improvement Program as a community consultant. I had recently graduated the high school that received the funds, a huge school in terms of the number of students graduating yearly, not to mention those who did not. Every evil in Merrow's book was observed, including the compilation of multiple choice tests to be bubble scored. Several teachers became deans, and various security measures made the place feel like a high security prison. It left me permanently jaded about academia, right about the time I left for college.
Many years earlier I had been in Head Start, which should have given me a lifetime edge on Spanish as a second language. But that wasn't reinforced by the elementaries I attended, so it got lost. What I do remember was the sense of exploration I learned in a church basement that made school bearable for the next twelve years. Merrow agrees about Head Start type preschools, as long as they don't test. One thing that happens in day care is that you get exposed to toys your parents don't provide, or can't provide, as well as a broader spectrum of people. There were turtles, Swedish building toys and children who spoke no English. These are the memories I have of these years, not tests of shaming for not picking up on someone's curriculum. I entered kindergarten fully literate.
The people who ran the program were all college educated, which biased the environment to enrichment. For me the benefit was getting away from books and building things because this was not encouraged at home. Schools after that encouraged reading, not building thing because at the tail of the baby boom supplies were scarce and you couldn't have tools around a crowded class room. Instead it was endless paperwork and confinement to those wraparound desks. Those who were gifted at being still were rewarded, and those who were more energetic were shamed. I'm glad I missed the medication, largely because I am female.
Merrow does critque the pharmaceutical companies that have lobbied for looser standards of assessment for ADD and ADHD. He writes that parents are glad when their kids 'failure to succeed is blamed on a medical issue, and they welcome whatever edge extended timing and drugs give their children because they don't have to blame themselves. One of my brothers was on this stuff, and he hated how he felt under the influence. Merrow goes on to explain the medical modeling we have in schools where some of the students are in need of special treatment, remediation. But the very stress of the assessment process, testing, public humiliation is part of why students fail to succeed, and large doses of speed probably aren't that helpful. It sets up a drug culture when a pill is the answer. And there is trafficking in these medications at the school.
Education is big business in America, and isn't very rewarding for first year teachers who are now compelled to teach for the test. Students are considered the product in an industrial model of schooling. I'm excited to find out where he goes next. He makes note of the medical model of education, where learning disabilities can be addressed by drill and drugs, rather than determining the type of intelligence a child might have. I'd like it if this were linked in his book to other work that explores the types of intelligence, but every foray I have made into such books has revealed a corporate-driven agenda. Not Merrow approved, I presume. He also notes that wen children are tested and divided in to a few cardinals and a majority of vultures, the kids become restive and often persecute the vulnerable vultures, and sometimes the vulnerable cardinals. They learn persecution tactics from the educational system-humiliation, sabotage, rejection and access to social media has made this lethal in far too many instances.
Good book I recommend it to people with pupils in the family and those who are on-lookers.
About the time Merrow became an educational reporter for NPR, I worked on a School Improvement Program as a community consultant. I had recently graduated the high school that received the funds, a huge school in terms of the number of students graduating yearly, not to mention those who did not. Every evil in Merrow's book was observed, including the compilation of multiple choice tests to be bubble scored. Several teachers became deans, and various security measures made the place feel like a high security prison. It left me permanently jaded about academia, right about the time I left for college.
Many years earlier I had been in Head Start, which should have given me a lifetime edge on Spanish as a second language. But that wasn't reinforced by the elementaries I attended, so it got lost. What I do remember was the sense of exploration I learned in a church basement that made school bearable for the next twelve years. Merrow agrees about Head Start type preschools, as long as they don't test. One thing that happens in day care is that you get exposed to toys your parents don't provide, or can't provide, as well as a broader spectrum of people. There were turtles, Swedish building toys and children who spoke no English. These are the memories I have of these years, not tests of shaming for not picking up on someone's curriculum. I entered kindergarten fully literate.
The people who ran the program were all college educated, which biased the environment to enrichment. For me the benefit was getting away from books and building things because this was not encouraged at home. Schools after that encouraged reading, not building thing because at the tail of the baby boom supplies were scarce and you couldn't have tools around a crowded class room. Instead it was endless paperwork and confinement to those wraparound desks. Those who were gifted at being still were rewarded, and those who were more energetic were shamed. I'm glad I missed the medication, largely because I am female.
Merrow does critque the pharmaceutical companies that have lobbied for looser standards of assessment for ADD and ADHD. He writes that parents are glad when their kids 'failure to succeed is blamed on a medical issue, and they welcome whatever edge extended timing and drugs give their children because they don't have to blame themselves. One of my brothers was on this stuff, and he hated how he felt under the influence. Merrow goes on to explain the medical modeling we have in schools where some of the students are in need of special treatment, remediation. But the very stress of the assessment process, testing, public humiliation is part of why students fail to succeed, and large doses of speed probably aren't that helpful. It sets up a drug culture when a pill is the answer. And there is trafficking in these medications at the school.
Education is big business in America, and isn't very rewarding for first year teachers who are now compelled to teach for the test. Students are considered the product in an industrial model of schooling. I'm excited to find out where he goes next. He makes note of the medical model of education, where learning disabilities can be addressed by drill and drugs, rather than determining the type of intelligence a child might have. I'd like it if this were linked in his book to other work that explores the types of intelligence, but every foray I have made into such books has revealed a corporate-driven agenda. Not Merrow approved, I presume. He also notes that wen children are tested and divided in to a few cardinals and a majority of vultures, the kids become restive and often persecute the vulnerable vultures, and sometimes the vulnerable cardinals. They learn persecution tactics from the educational system-humiliation, sabotage, rejection and access to social media has made this lethal in far too many instances.
Good book I recommend it to people with pupils in the family and those who are on-lookers.
March 19, 2018
Thought this was better written than a lot of other preachy education books I’ve read. I don’t love the AA analogy, but the book gave me good things to stew on such as evaluation of teacher preparation programs, leveraging sampling instead of testing all students (which I’ve heard about in other contexts at work), and the role of outsiders. Wish the book gave more detailed recommendations on what to measure other than harping on how standardized assessments aren’t the way to go (like ugh we get it). The memory lane bits were nice to break up the heavier text, but also seemed like self-absorbed anecdotes. Overall, thought it was a relatively easy read.
November 24, 2017
The number of stars depends on how involved you are in education. As a teacher, I knew most of what he said, but did find some of his research on charter schools and where all that money goes (i.e. into owners pockets often) enlightening.
I liked the section on how DOD teachers provide emotional community and support for children whose parents are deployed. I'd never read anything like that.
A lot of the rest of the book, I'd seen before, e.g. how Head Start or early ed is important. Yes, I've seen that before often.
I liked the section on how DOD teachers provide emotional community and support for children whose parents are deployed. I'd never read anything like that.
A lot of the rest of the book, I'd seen before, e.g. how Head Start or early ed is important. Yes, I've seen that before often.
May 30, 2022
This was a really enlightening read. Everyone knows public education in the US is a mess, but this book actually puts forth a solution. I loved it. I wish I could send my kid to this imaginary school. But IMO it would be impossible to implement because that would require a lot of anti-racist behavior from a lot of people who just won’t.
January 23, 2018
Excellent and thought-provoking book! I would highly recommend to all parents and educators (and taxpayers!). Chapters covering many different angles of our educational crisis--some more effective than others. Overall, a skinny book well worth the time.
December 22, 2017
Ask of each child "How are you intelligent?", make the students "knowledge workers" and their product "knowledge"...
December 13, 2020
You can check out my review here:
https://youtu.be/X9yF1zOecvk
https://youtu.be/X9yF1zOecvk
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews