Includes bibliographical references and index.

Progressive education: why it's hard to beat, but also hard to find -- Challenging students and how to have more of them -- Getting hit on the head lessons -- It's not what we teach; it's what they learn -- Who's cheating whom? -- How to create nonreaders : reflections on motivation, learning, and sharing power -- The trouble with rubrics -- The value of negative learning -- Unconditional teaching -- Safety from the inside out -- Bad signs -- Feel-bad education : the cult of rigor and the loss of joy -- Against "competitiveness" -- When twenty-first-century schooling just isn't good enough : a modest proposal -- Debunking the case for national standards -- Atrocious advice from supernanny -- Parental love with strings attached -- Why self-discipline is overrated : the (troubling) theory and practice of control from within -- Cash incentives won't make us healthier.