Chapter 20 Summary and Analysis

Faced with appallingly low literacy rates in language, math and science skills among school children, what can concerned parents do to improve the situation? Sagan offers a grab bag of ideas from his own experience as scientist and parent. From his experience as a contributor of articles to Parade magazine, Sagan presents a sampling of letters he received from some 10th graders in Minnesota about an article on the poor performance of both teachers and students in American schools. Many of the students didn't believe there is a problem. If there is one, they were indifferent. Some seemed to resent the implication they should sacrifice any of their social time for more studies. Most were inclined to deny Sagan's message completely.

Yet, adults who responded to his article largely seemed to agree there is a problem with American education. Many parents...