EducationNews.org

An Interview with Sol Stern: The Impact of E.D. Hirsch

Michael F. Shaughnessy - 11.3.09
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico

1)      Sol, I understand that you recently introduced E.D. Hirsch at the Manhattan Institute. What was the occasion?

The occasion was the publication of Professor Hirsch's latest book, The Making of Americans: Democracy And Our Schools (Yale University Press). On the same day that I introduced Hirsch at a Harvard Club luncheon City Journal  released my essay on Hirsch's career and his impact on education reform in America. Here's the link. http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_hirsch.html In the article I conclude that Hirsch is "America’s most important education reformer of the last century." The reason I give Hirsch that exalted ranking is that he has produced the only workable solution for the current sad condition of America's schools. If implemented, his idea of cultural literacy and a grade by grade curriculum stressing core knowledge would surely lift the academic performance of almost all American students. The reason I can state this with some certainty is that Hirsch's reform ideas have already proved successful in Massachusetts. After the state legislature adopted a Hirsch style grade-by-grade curriculum stressing content knowledge Massachusetts students have surged upward on the biennial National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). On the 2005 NAEP tests, Massachusetts ranked first in the nation in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade math. It then repeated the feat in 2007. No state had ever scored first in both grades and both subjects in a single year—let alone for two consecutive test cycles. 

2)      We recently lost Ted Sizer and Gerald Bracey. How do you see E.D. Hirsch’s work and impact and influence?

I had great respect for Ted Sizer for showing how classrooms can be humanized and grudging respect for Gerald Bracey even though I disagreed with most of his substantive ideas. But Hirsch is in a league of his own, teaching us that the primal scene of all education reform is in the classroom. Moreover, his Core Knowledge curriculum would cost almost nothing to implement and yet the payoff would be enormous in terms of raising the academic achievement of American students from all ethnic and racial groups.

3)       What was the pod cast you did with Professor Hirsch all about and can we access it?

The podcast can be found by going to the link for my City Journal article. It is a 25 minute conversation between Professor Hirsch and myself that contains some real nuggets, including Hirsch explaining why one of his education heroes is Antonio Gramsci, the founder of the Italian Communist Party. No, it doesn't have anything to do with Gramsci's political views. It's simply that in the 1920's Gramsci understood that there could be no empowerment of the disadvantaged without their children learning the same academic content knowledge as the children of the wealthy and powerful.

4)      What do you see as the impact of the Core Knowledge movement?

As I stated above, the impact of the Core Knowledge movement and its founder, E. D. Hirsch, can be seen in the extraordinary performance of Massachusetts' students on national and international tests. It can also be seen in the growing number of education leaders who are beginning to recognize that content knowledge is essential to making our kids smarter and better citizens. For example, Hirsch's new book carries enthusiastic blurbs from New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein and the President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.

5)      Why is there such resistance to Core Knowledge and Hirsch’s work among certain quarters?

The resistance to Hirsch's ideas comes almost entirely from our retrograde schools of education. Although Hirsch is a hero to parents who learn about his ideas, he is a pariah in the ed schools. The ed school professors hate him because he challenges their ideological hegemony and their failed, progressive instructional ideas. The ed schools remain resolutely opposed to the very idea of a coherent grade by grade curriculum.

6)  What have I neglected to ask?

The only thing you should have asked is what are the chances that the Obama administration and education secretary Arne Duncan will recognize the potential for school improvement in Hirsch's ideas. Unfortunately, I would say the chances are pretty slim. It's astonishing to me that the administration would be spending $4.3 billion in taxpayer funds encouraging "experiments" in accountability reforms when Massachusetts' real accomplishment using Hirsch's ideas is already out there waiting to be emulated -- and at almost no cost. However, I did notice that in his recent speech at Teachers College, Secretary Duncan did mention E. D. Hirsch as an education thinker who should get more attention from the education schools. Perhaps that's a hopeful sign that Duncan is beginning to wake up to the power of Hirsch's ideas and the importance of a core knowledge curriculum for the nation's public schools.