Chapter 18, The Leveling of American Education, Chapter 19, Affirmative Action in Higher Education Summary and Analysis

Many believe that American public schools poorly perform their assigned tasks, and there is evidence to support this view. But it is unclear whether or not American school children of previous decades would do better on academic skill tests. Those children with average IQs may have better academic preparation today than at any time in the recent past. The main problem is that the SAT scores of the most gifted children have been declining since the mid 1960s and verbal scores have not recovered.

The authors argue that this is due to the fact that more attention and resources have been invested in the disadvantaged than the gifted. When the book was written, one-tenth of a percent of federal...