Getting Education Right: A Conservative Vision for Improving Early Childhood, K-12, and College

In Getting Education Right, Rick Hess and Mike McShane argue that America has too long suffered from the absence of a robust, coherent, and principled conservative vision for educational improvement. The book both diagnoses a problem and offers a solution. The problem? The right has too narrowly focused on school choice, campus speech, and shrinking Washington's footprint, while the left has sought to subsidise and supersise the status quo. The solution? An education system imbued with shared values, respectful of family ties, and equipped for the challenges of the 21st century. Rooted in fundamental conservative principles, the book explains both how we got here and where we need to go when it comes to early childhood, K-12, and higher education. Eschewing performative polemics, this book offers a field guide to bringing education back to its formative mission. Readers from across the ideological spectrum will benefit from engaging with the provocative analysis Hess and McShane offer, whether or not they agree with the policies they propose. Education is the foundation on which America's future will be constructed, and Getting Education Right provides a timely blueprint for that project.Book Features: A conservative vision for the direction of American education in early childhood, K-12, and higher education. A stimulating and informative presentation for audiences across the ideological spectrum. An explanation of what it means to be a conservative in education today applied to a series of crucial questions about American schooling. A readable and accessible text with plenty of anecdotes, provocative data points, and real-world solutions. Authors who are especially well-suited to this task given their prominence as influential conservative scholars and pundits.

Table of Contents:
Contents (Tentative)Preface Acknowledgements 1. Core Values What Makes a Conservative in Education? The Beliefs That Anchor Our Approach to Education The Book Ahead2. A Bit of History The Origins of Our Education System Post-War Conservatism and the Nation's Schools The 1980s and 1990s: A Nation at Risk The 2000s: No Child Left Behind The 2010s and the Pandemic: Backlash Against Bureaucracy Lessons Learned3. Pro-Family Policies Enmeshing Families in Webs of Support Building Family-Friendly Communities Direct Financial Support for Families Navigating an Online Childhood Overhauling Adoption and Foster Care4. Early Childhood Education The Elephant in the Room The Other Elephant in the Room Little Platoons for Little People ESAs for Every 3- and 4-Year-Old Workplace-Based Child Care Resisting the Nanny State5. K–12 Education he World After School The Handshake Between Student and Teacher What Do We Want From Schools? A Conservative K-12 Agenda Custodial School Reform6. Higher Education Wisdom vs. Wokeness Groupthink and Orthodoxy Embrace the Logic of Unbundling Control College Costs Make Sure College Enrollment Is a Choice Protect Free Inquiry Stop Subsidizing Payoff-Based College Admissions Don't Just Fix Colleges, Build Them Getting Higher Ed on the Right Track7. Questions & Answers 8. What Now? The Recess Rorschach Test Plenty More Where That Came From A Forward-Looking, Healthy Conservatism Education That Values Our Little Platoons Free to Reimagine Putting a Vibrant Conservatism to WorkEndnotes Index About the Authors

About the Author :
Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the popular Education Week blog, "Rick Hess Straight Up." Michael Q. McShane is director of national research at EdChoice.

Review :
"Whether readers are searching for ideas to add to an existing program or what to subtract (or even what to modify), Getting Education Right can be motivating and educating." -- "School Administrator"