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Tinkering toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform

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The history of public school reform in the United States has been characterized by institutional inertia and myriad failed attempts at wholesale change. Although policy elites, educators, school pundits, and the lay public regularly disagree about why we have intractable schools, David Tyack and Larry Cuban, in Tinkering toward Utopia, argue that a careful and complete understanding of schools as institutions has long eluded those who attempt to effect change in schools. The authors also claim that incremental change in education is a natural and viable phenomenon, not a symbol of a failed system. By rendering these arguments through sociopolitical and historical lenses, they present a comprehensive take on the stagnancy of school reform.

Although the word tinkering can connote clumsiness or incompetence, the authors use it in an equivocal sense in order to argue that educational change for better or worse has been piecemeal, largely due to what they call the grammar of schooling. Radical reforms, such as merit-based teacher pay and open classrooms, have repeatedly failed to make a lasting impression on schools largely because they have attempted to alter the structural and behavioral regularities that are entrenched in the notion of what constitutes a "real school." The argument, although effective, is nothing new: Sarason's (1971) illustrative example of the "man from outer space" immediately comes to mind. However, Tyack and Cuban take this argument to another level by diagnosing many failed reform efforts as "too intramural" (p. 108), and incongruent with external forces (e.g., college admission requirements, labor market needs).

How the grammar of schooling was engendered and why it has remained seemingly immutable is the real thrust of the problem. Like good scholars, Tyack and Cuban do not ignore political dimensions. They soundly argue that despite the ostensible claim that centralized governance of schools by experts would forever "take the schools out of politics," technocratic control of schools actually had just the opposite effect in practice, for the act of devolving power to a single group has the word politics written all over it. Furthermore, the structural regularities that exist today (e.g., age-graded schools, egg-crate classrooms, departmentalized high schools) secured their places in the schooling schema long ago by first gaining the necessary political support, and then by demonstrating that they were efficient and easily replicable. Crystallized school traditions have essentially become the blinders that prevent the universe of alternatives to be considered.

Tyack and Cuban clearly expose their advocacy of the classroom teacher as a critical change agent. Their argument is lucid and point-blank: schools change reforms. "Once the schoolroom door was shut, most teachers retained considerable autonomy to instruct the children as they saw fit" (p. 115). Unsurprisingly, thwarted attempts to introduce change from the outside were typically ones which grossly misunderstood or failed to take into account teacher perspectives. The authors describe reforms as blueprints meant to be altered, not followed indiscriminately, and they buttress this notion with empirical evidence detailing how reforms have been tempered, marginalized, or even rejected by teachers. While careful to avoid the emotional arguments such as the oft-cited teacher-as-unsung-hero plea, they extend a clarion call to empowerment of those who work closer to the front-lines of education.

As a caveat, Tyack and Cuban caution readers not to judge the success of reforms by frequency, longevity, and even fidelity of implementation. Rather, those who understand the value of local differences and teacher concerns, and more importantly, that schools are simply not "wax to be imprinted" (p. 83) but rather highly dynamic and idiosyncratic institutions, will be best able to wield the elusive wand of change.

Having read Tinkering Toward Utopia for one of my graduate classes in administration at the GSE at Rutgers, I would summarize that the book is excellent, but a little bit dated.

Tyack & Cuban present a well-done overview of the American educational system, from its beginnings in the early 20th century through the mid-1980's. Their theme, "tinkering toward utopia," is an interesting take on addressing school reform throughout the century and sheds light on the problems and pitfalls of "overpromising" and "hyperbole" that have existed--and continue to exist--in American education. Overall, the text is easy to read and is replete with well-developed examples.

My only caution is that although the ideas presented continue through and are valied in modern times, the examples and data contained in the work are, for lack of a better word, dated--11 years in public education, especially with 5+ of those years overshadowed by NCLB, is a long time of increased levels of accountability that are missing in what could be "a century (and a little more) of public school reform." One would hope that a revised edition be published in the near future with a chapter or two specifically devoted to those last 5 years of the 20th century and the transition into the 21st.

However, overall, the text is excellent and highly informative.

Tinkering Toward Utopia is simply the best brief introduction to the history of educational reform in the US available. Anyone with a genuine interest in historical explanations of why grand schemes of school reform fail and why "crisis" is the way the US has tended to view its need for school reform, will be rewarded by this clearly written account. The book substitutes complex historical analysis for the usual simple-minded polemics of writing on education, but the authors do not weigh the book down with a lot of historical evidence and inpenetrable footnotes. I highly recommend this book for anyone who cares about the prospects of reforming public schools in the US.

I'm a Macon State College education student. I chose to read "Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform" by David Tyack and Larry Cuban. This book tackles the view that reformers often show the past as a golden age to be restored or a dismal legacy to not be accepted. Teachers are often left out when it comes to reforms in education. The authors feel that reform should possibly come from the inside out and not from the top down. There have been many reforms in education over the years and they are intrinsically political in origin. Policy elites received unequal authority over educational reforms. Past Progresives wanted less influence of school boards and accused them of being corrupt and ignorant meddlers. There was a big drop in public school confidence in the past,but it had a slight recovery in the 1980's. The authors discuss diagnosing education problems by using policy talk and adopting reforms using policy actions. Policy talk is not just used by policy elites but by people casually everyday. Businesses can be used to help school finances and certain experts can suggest ways to improve instruction by collaboration. All people in the U.S. have a stake in future reform and should remember where education has been in years past. This is an interesting book for education majors to read,but it makes for hard casual reading.

Great first book for a lesson on educational reform in the U.S. The authors deliver the facts without bias and judgment. Although this book is 15 years old, its use and application to today's education reform discussion is essential. Very deserving of the award they received for the book.

If you are looking for a general history of American public education, look elsewhere. However, if you are interested in an examination of *why* American education is the way it is, then this book is for you. Tyack and Cuban delve into questions that should concern anyone with an interest in educational reform, such as: What has driven our desire to change education? Why do some reforms work while others don't? Their examination of these questions alone is worth the read, and their style (concise and clear) makes the reading itself a pleasure.

I love this book. Yes, it's a bit dated, but I assign it in every education policy class I teach, and my students really like it. It's the fastest way to get a good, pre-NCLB understanding of education policy and the importance of implementation concerns.

In Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform, David Tyack and Larry Cuban present education reform through a detailed analysis of the past century, highlighting reforms that were imposed upon educators along with those that developed from within the education community. Tyack and Cuban do a thorough job describing how the implementation of reform initiatives redefined teaching and learning throughout the past century. By viewing the history of education reform, we are able to see how education has arrived to where it currently is and possibly predict or influence its future direction. Lastly, Tyack and Cuban do a wonderful job explaining schools as institutions with their own valued culture, where teachers can improve education for their students with the right support. Tinkering Toward Utopia is a timeline of education reform meant for educators, social professionals, policymakers, and scholars. The main arguments are that educational reform takes place in incremental progress, the grammar of schooling persists, and reform initiatives should not be imposed in a top down approach but rather from within the classroom.

The first chapter, "Progress or Regress," gives a historical account of educational reform from Horace Mann to the administrative progressives to the 1990's. Education was held in high regard as being responsible for the future of the society. However, the administrative progressives' belief that education could be standardized and would improve education for all had failed. There were large disparities in educational opportunities with the poor, blacks, working-class immigrants, disabled, and females suffering most from the inequities. Interestingly, even with the social ills of poverty and segregation, during the 1940's and 50's schools were fairing well; the community and parents were satisfied with their school and teachers. In the mid 1950's a new form of progress was breaking through the educational arena in a campaign for "simple justice." From the 1970's onward, people began to show disappointment in schools and in the 1980's with the publication of A Nation at Risk, people began to believe that schools and test scores needed to improve if we were to improve our society. Tyack and Cuban do not take a side of either progress or regress. However, they do state that, "The public schools, for all their faults, remain one of our most stable and effective public institutions" (pg. 38).

The fourth chapter, "Why the Grammar of Schooling Persists," discusses the stability within the school system. The basic grammar of schooling has not changed. School hours, the physical space within the classroom, grades, credits, and subjects have remained the same. Although some have challenged the grammar of schooling, the initiatives have disappeared leaving a few changes but nothing insofar as to drastic change the grammar of schooling. A few innovative initiatives include the ungraded schools, departmental specialization in elementary, and teachers working in teams. All of which attempted to make positive changes to teaching and learning.

The fifth chapter, "Reinventing Schooling," describes the impact of drastic initiatives in reforming education. Initiatives such as electronic pedagogy, contracting instruction, managing education, merit pay, and teaching by machine have been implemented and resisted by educators nor have they proven to work better than the public schools.

Presently, with the paradigm of standardization leading assessments, curriculum, instruction, Tyack and Cuban's Tinkering Toward Utopia can help educators understand the progress that has been made within the education system. Education reform is an incremental progress, tinkering, from within the framework of the schools, not a mandated top down approach. Tyack and Cuban advocate for reforms that help teachers improve instruction from inside the classroom as opposed to a top down approach.

The writers of this book seem to come from the education academy. They persistently cite statistics without indicating how they were derived, cite the conclusions of various texts without explaining the reasoning behind those conclusions (both failings are appallingly frequent in the dismal world of education "research") and cite books from prominent educrats who would be laughed out of any other academic field (such as the pathetically inane Michael Apple).

Example: on page 35, the book cites Carl Kaestle and claims without argument that SAT scores were higher in the 1980s than in the 60s, but was this before or after the recentering? Was it a one-year aberration? No mention. Many arguments in the book are similarly underargued.

Also, there are certain marks of the terrible writing characteristics of ed-schools such as when we read of movements for "ungraded--not graded--schools". We know what the prefix "un" means. And there are a bunch of adoring allusions to John Dewey, contrasting him with the lesser lights of the Progressive Educators who allegedly misunderstood him. When you actually read material by and about Dewey, you find that he was really no different from the rest of them. He is pretty much perfectly understood. He had similar anti-intellectual, Pro-Soviet, pro gobbledgook instincts. He did not reach the rare heights of idiocy of some of the more flamboyant progressives, but then again, neither does anyone else.

There is some good material here, but none that is not better covered elsewhere. Also, the authors don't seem to have any real thesis. This is merely an account of various reforms in content and implementation, without any thematic cohesion. To the extent that the authors have a point, it is simply that everything is fine (except of course, racism and xenphobic) and that we should all get off the teachers' (and their unions') backs. Sorry. It's as plain as day that things are not too fine and its time the education industry stated feeling real heat.

I read Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform for a presentation, but I wouldn't have purchased this book on my own initiative. The book is filled with facts and opinion polls, which only reveal the fickleness of the American public -- claiming that public schools are deplorable one year, and excellent the next. The authors inform the reader of what reforms didn't work, but offer few ideas of how to implement change. The book has potential, but falls unfavorably short of expectations.