The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools

by Martin L. Gross

Never before have public school students been so poorly educated.  On national exams, almost 40 percent of fourth graders are reading at "below basic" levels, and in international contests in math and science, our seventeen-year-olds score near the bottom.
In a shocking expose of the Educational Establishment, Martin L. Gross describes how the typical teacher is academically inferior and trained in dubious "educational psychology" and faddish  "whole language" methods.  Indeed, most teachers and administrators come from the bottom third of their class and are outscored on the SAT tests by their own college-bound students.  The curriculum is so weak that only one in five students ever take trigonometry, physics, or geography in high school.  The usual remedies-from smaller class sizes to federal aid-fail because the Etablishment is intent on maintaining both control and lower academic standards.  Lucid, persuasive, and meticulously researched, The Conspiracy of Ignorance asks- and answers--the questions educators are afraid to ask.  This book is desperately needed if American schoolchildren are to prosper in today's competitive world.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Dale Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Though outdated, I figured there'd be some redeeming qualities within this book. There's not.

Gross writes in such a pompous "I told you so" manner that it becomes unbearably annoying by the second chapter. I managed to only finish three chapters before throwing in the towel. A rare occurrence for me regardless of how bad a book is.

It's not to say that Gross doesn't have some valid points, but they're presented in such an immature and amateur way that one can't help but to be annoyed by the style.

Tossing this one in the Goodwill bin. Maybe someone will find it interesting or, at the very least, even out their kitchen table with it.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I certainly don’t agree with all of Gross’s conclusions as a practicing teacher I found his critique of teacher education to be very close to my experiences. Some of his ideas were tested in NCLB and did not create the results everyone hoped for. Other ideas move farther and farther from the mainstream. We need this and other critiques to keep us balanced and continually striving to do better as we educate our children.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besides solidifying my desire to home school, I love the ideas he gives for how to improve the public school system. It's a bit outdated, but I don't think the core ideas are any less applicable. If anything they're more so, as it becomes more and more painfully obvious that the 'reforms' we have tried in the intervening years are not fixing anything, and have possibly made things worse. Some of his basic ideas are to remove 'teaching' from the offerings as a college degree and instead have college graduates in real disciplines take a graduate level 1 year teaching program that mostly involves student teaching. He also wants to dramatically improve (read intensify) the school curriculum for all children, but especially after elementary school level. If you squint and stand on your head the common core almost looks like what he wants, but it has gone horribly wrong, in my opinion.

[Concrastinator7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightfully written diatribe on current ills in modern American grade schools. Slightly outdated (it was written before No Child Left Behind and other efforts to change), much of its content is still quite applicable. Many of the suggestions made to restore American education to previous levels of quality, if not exceed them, are timeless and spot on. I especially appreciate pointing out that the fact that exams are not sufficient to measure overall capability does not mean they are not necessary.

[Channing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't agree with everything he says but very enlightening. He has studies to back up everything I've ever felt about schools. Amazing that our schools can produce such abysmal results and people still doubt I am capable of teaching my children myself.

[William Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most unscholarly book that has ever labelled others unscholarly. There were so many other areas of education he could have criticized, but he picked ones that were just opinionated political attacks. The only conspiracy in this book was the author.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"most of the nonperformance of our schoolchildren comes from two sources: the intellectual deficiency of their teacher and the wrongheadedness of their teachers' training and philosophy." p.41

[Sara Sise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated now but excellent read regarding state of public education.