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Article: College for the few.(Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The American Prospect
- Article date:
- December 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 The American Prospect, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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REAL EDUCATION: FOUR SIMPLE TRUTHS FOR BRINGING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS BACK TO REALITY BY CHARLES MURRAY, Crown Forum, 219 pages, $24.95
A QUARTER-CENTURY AGO, A then-obscure social scientist named Charles Murray hit upon a surefire formula for creating a best-seller: 1) Pick a controversial topic like welfare (Losing Ground) or IQ (The Bell Curve). 2) Make an outrageous claim, adopting a tone of sweet reason and using (often misusing) elaborate social-science tools to impress the statistically unschooled. 3) Give those at the top of the heap license to believe they got there because of merit. 4) Await the brouhaha. 5) Watch the book climb to the top of the ...