In The Allure of Order, Mehta recounts a century of attempts at revitalizing public education, and puts forward a truly new agenda to reach this elusive goal. Over and over again, outsiders have been fascinated by the promise of scientific management and have attempted to apply principles of rational administration from above.

Chapter One: The Allure of Order: Rationalizing Schools From the Progressive to the Present ; Chapter Two: The Cultural Struggle for Control Over Schooling: The Power of Ideas and the Weakness of the Educational Field ; Chapter Three: Taking Control from Above: The Rationalization of Schooling in the Progressive Era ; Chapter Four: The Forgotten Standards Movement: The Coleman Report, the Defense Department, and a Nascent Push for Educational Accountability ; Chapter Five: Setting the Problem: The Deep Roots and Long Shadows of A Nation at Risk ; Chapter Six: A Semi-Profession in an Era of Accountability ; Chapter Seven: E Pluribus Unum: How Standards and Accountability Became King ; Chapter Eight: Transforming Federal Policy: Ideas and the Triumph of Accountability Politics ; Chapter Nine: Rationalizing Schools: Patterns, Ironies, Contradictions ; Chapter Ten: Beyond Rationalization: Inverting the Pyramid, Remaking the Educational Sector ; Bibliography

"The success of The Allure of Order is how it challenges anyone involved in education reform to reexamine their most closely held concepts. At this critical period when the only consensus among U.S. educators, reformers, and policymakers is the need for change, The Allure of Order is a major guide for the sweeping decisions that must be made during the next several years. While analyzing both the history and the common strands of education reform movements, Jal Mehta also puts forward meaningful proposals to avoid repeating the past while building a system that truly empowers educators to perform at their highest levels. Documenting that the current 'rationalization of schools' has reached its limits, Dr. Mehta points us to an approach that produces greater learning outcomes by trusting educators, sharing ideas, and moving away from the concept of 'one best system." --Robert Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education "In this detailed historical and political reanalysis of America's checkered history of school reform, Jal Mehta finds two major patterns: an impulse on the part of reformers and policymakers for the imposition of order and coherence on a set of institutions that lack the incentives and capacities to respond to these ideas, and a persistent lack of attention to the underlying problems of human values, knowledge, and skill that actually determine the value of schooling to individuals and society over time. His analysis leads to a vision of the future that will be harder to achieve but more likely to succeed, based on valuing human knowledge and skill over technical order in the learning sector." --Richard F. Elmore, Gregory Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education "A powerful academic treatise written lucidly which, being pleasingly free of jargon, deserves, nay demands, a wide readership...." --London School of Economics "Highly recommended." --CHOICE "Jal Mehta challenges our tendency to believe that every education reform effort is 'new' and therefore holds fresh promise for improving student performance... Although the value of standards as a primary driver of educational improvement has generated a plethora of literature, Mehta's search for why this reform has persisted, despite frustration with student achievement gains, adds depth to an ongoing and urgent policy discussion about strategies to improve student performance." --Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare "Even those who question some of Mehta's premises, however, are likely to profit from his elegant historical detail and careful conceptualizations...many readers will appreciate the intellectual force behind whatmay be the book's most important contention: we are currently going at the problem backwards, emphasizing sanctions and controls at the end of the process, driven by student outcomes." --Social Service Review

Selling point: Offers a compelling critique of the "accountability" approach in historical context Selling point: Proposes a sweeping rethinking of education in society Selling point: Why school reform never seems to work - and what will work

Jal Mehta is Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research explores the underlying structures which shape American schooling, the cultural assumptions which underpin these approaches to education, and the consequences of those decisions for schools, teachers, and students. He is the co-editor of The Futures of School Reform. Mehta received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University.

Selling point: Offers a compelling critique of the "accountability" approach in historical context Selling point: Proposes a sweeping rethinking of education in society Selling point: Why school reform never seems to work - and what will work