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Inside American Education Paperback – March 14, 2003

by Thomas Sowell (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 499 ratings
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An illuminating examination of the deterioration of the current school system in America, backed by detailed research and shocking statistics.

An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Free Press
  4. Publication date
    March 14, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0743254082
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0743254083
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Sowell is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has been a professor of economics at leading American colleges and universities and has lectured in Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as across the United States.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Free Press; Standard Edition (March 14, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743254082
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743254083
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.26 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 499 ratings

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Thomas Sowell

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
499 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ed Spaeth
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Intellectual Thinker
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024
Verified Purchase
I was educated in the two best Universities in California. The first had the motto "Where the Wind of Freedom Blows" ... the second "The Truth Will Set You Free". The first followed the path described "so well" in this book ... to feel free to be blown anywhere you choose. The second focused on one goal .... to remain devoted to the pursuit of Truth through the creative Scientific study of God's Creation, aided by the Spirit of Truth. I chose the latter.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael J. Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book that might well help me create an album or other works of art:)
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
I am very fascinated with understanding the school system and the potential to create satire from a deep and thorough felt understanding along with my own experience. Thomas's book is wonderful at showing me simply and factually what I recall from my childhood. There is a memory of me trying to tell my parents that the school system was crazy and them being completely resistant towards my plea.

After graduating and doing a couple years in college, the feeling of this system being mad has only increased. I've now been on a journey, reading many books, watching films and looking at others art who all find the system to be the definition of insanity and in a world where none dare call out the 'angles' who all run the system. What am amazing opportunity we have to acknowledge this unconscious circus of misery that we thrust all the youth into without being able to talk of its origins or how it functions. This is an artists dream come true...although we all had to go through the nightmare to recognize it as such.

Thomas brings a most wonderful and thorough look at the deceitful system which is now harming our most precious responsibility, outside of our own enlightenment; the wise guidance of our children.

I am glad that there are enough of us to take heed this inner call to find just how perverse this wicked torture instrument we have allowed to grow, like a weed, from a system that was once much more honest and simple and that churned out many more entrepreneurs, artists and self sufficient people with values, critical thinking ability and wisdom;...instead of hipsters, troubled kids and often at best mediocre people who will slave for comfort and safety without ushering forth that unique spark that is in each of us which alone is fulfilling. We have kids looking to be hero's now because they are taught the collectivist jive that the loser professors, like the parasites they are, brought with them. But I think there is a silver lining and we can all have a huge laugh as we each begin to recognize this and create an artistic explosion in a world that tries to censor and condemn anything that is not PC. All of the books and talks Thomas gives helps me to be a better artist and enables me to make mind balm from his very insightful deep looking at vital issues that are falsely handled by the entrenched elite and a legion of hipsters who are just looking for something to give their all to...but who are misguided to the extreme; I was one of them:)
46 people found this helpful
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Daniel Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars Facts About Destructive Educational Policies and Attitudes in America
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Inside American Education is a fact-based book by Dr. Thomas Sowell that follows statistics instead of a political position. The book examines both secondary and earlier school and college education, mainly analyzing the negative factors contributing to the decline in these institutions. For earlier education he points out that it's the top learners in this country who are shrinking, something that is no surprise to me.

He mentions that many schools are going away from actually educating and are instead emotionally conditioning their students. For the first time I was able to understand the never-ending talks on "diversity" and "adversity" in middle school and the crazy rhetoric, such as a teacher saying that America was wrong to not get into the Second World War sooner because it was acting as a guilty "bystander" (I'm not going to say anything about the timing of America's entering that war, but to say we were at fault for not sending our people to die and spending huge amounts of money for no reason other than to help people of another country (as opposed to what is best for our country and national security) is such an absurd argument I find it hard to believe anybody would ever dare to use it). These kind of statements were crazy to me, and I couldn't comprehend why we had suddenly stopped learning about English in English class.

Sowell's research into college education shows that America's abilities are also decreasing on that front, and that people from other countries who go to colleges here tend to do better. He also brilliantly shows the absolute fallacy of admitting students who wouldn't have gotten in otherwise based on factors other than ability-not only is it unjust, the students will also not do well at that school, because it's not the right school for them (the same applies to quotas for faculties).

He also explains how tenure can greatly harm the education taking place in a classroom. To get tenure, you have to spend a lot of time writing papers and not so much time teaching. Therefore, a lot of students are not getting access to professors and thus receiving subpar education. His research indicates that teacher's colleges and teacher's courses are at such a low level that most smart people simply leave. The majority of people who become teachers come from the bottom portion of scorers on the SAT, and the minimal quality courses are likely a big factor.

Sowell uses his logical thinking ability to show that government-sponsored loans for college students are extremely harmful. Colleges charge crazy amounts that they never would in a free market because they know the government will give loans to people who can't afford it. We have now seen education costs soar to a remarkable degree, while the government (i.e. the taxpayers) is picking up more than ever. If the government loan program was stopped, there is very good reason to believe that educational costs would plummet back to reasonable levels.

There is a great deal of more very interesting and insightful information provided. This is an easy to understand, clear book that is very good for people looking for more information on America's education debacle. Although almost 25 years have elapsed since the early 90s publishing of this book, it is easy to see that things have only gotten far worse, especially in pre-college schools. Adherence to concepts with no intellectual support that are so easily demolished in this book will only continue to get worse and worse results.
25 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Bruce D Link
5.0 out of 5 stars Still Relevant
Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2022
Verified Purchase
Although this was written in 2010, referencing the US, this still seems to apply, and to Canada as well. The non-academic social causes have been rebranded, from Politically Correct to various Woke and Social Justice flavours, including LGBTQ2S… (CRT is mentioned, but only in law schools). The “studies” departments are still there, and new things like ethnic Mathematics have multiplied. However, for the public to get accurate information is still hard and time consuming.
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