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CHOICE Review

This is the second report from ``A Study of High Schools,'' cosponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Association of Independent Schools. It is based on hundreds of interviews with teachers, administrators, students, and parents. The significance of the title lies in the observation that today's high schools, like shopping malls, offer something for everyone and are consumer-oriented, with the consumers (pupils) not being pushed to choose wisely. The two extremes of the student spectrum (the most capable and the handicapped) receive the most attention, and the average (majority) are seldom urged to engage in serious thinking. The authors make a number of suggestions for improving the lot of this large middle group. These are summarized as ``push'' (strong advocacy by parents and administrators), ``purpose'' (being ``morally adverse to low expectation''), and ``personalization'' (emphasizing personal attention in place of the freedom of anonymity). With the earlier report of the same study, Theodore Sizer's Horace's Compromise (CH, Jun '84), this companion piece is must reading for teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents of high school students. These two works present the most thoughtful survey of modern secondary education available and could be the bedrock for educational reform at this level. For graduate students, undergraduate education majors, and general readers.-E.C. Reichert, emeritus, Lake Forest College