Do Schools Make a Difference?

Since the days of Thomas Jefferson, we have believed that education is a means of achieving equality in our society. But in the last few years, social science has brought that assumption into question. The battle now rages; controversy surrounds the participants—Jencks, Moynihan, Coleman, Pettigrew, Jensen, Herrnstein, Armor; and where it all will end matters not just to the experts, but to all of us.