The Teaching Gap - by James W Stigler & James Hiebert (Paperback)

About the Book

Ten years after its first publication, "The Teaching Gap" is now in paperback for the first time, and updated with a new Preface and Afterword. Written in clear, jargon-free prose, this book is for teachers, school administrators, policy makers, politicians, and concerned parents.--"Library Journal."

Book Synopsis

Ten years after its first publication, The Teaching Gap remains "a critical resource" (Publishers Weekly) for anyone involved in education. In paperback for the first time, it has been fully revised and includes a new preface and afterword by the authors.

American schools have famously lagged behind foreign schools in all areas of academic achievement. When James W. Stigler and James Hiebert made their assessment of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ten years ago, they discovered that the problem with American education is neither one of testing nor curricula, but teaching. A clarion call for treating teaching like the craft it is, The Teaching Gap lays out a clear program for change that administrators, teachers, and parents can implement together. Newly updated with fresh teaching solutions drawn from new research, this educational classic is as vital a teaching tool as ever.

Review Quotes

Gary K. Hart Secretary of Education, State of California Provides valuable insights and cautionary notes that should guide the education reform debate in the years ahead.

Lee S. Shulman President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching A revolutionary book...brilliantly documents the ways in which America's teaching, rather than its teachers, contributes to deficits in student learning. Stigler and Hiebert help us recognize how many opportunities other nations' teachers have to learn from one another and to improve as professionals. The Teaching Gap offers far better hope for the improvement of American education than most other initiatives.

Paul L. Kimmelman Superintendent of Schools, Northbrook, Illinois A must for all educators, not only for the knowledge that can be gained about teaching, but also as a tool for building collaborative efforts to enhance curriculum and instruction.

Sandra Feldman President, American Federation of Teachers For a decade now we've looked hard at how other countries deliver good education. We've studied their standards, their curricula, their exams, and their student performance. Finally, here's a book that says none of this will make a difference unless teachers have a professional life -- the opportunity to develop and teach the good lessons that enable other reforms to have an impact in typical classrooms with real kids. Stigler and Hiebert's comparative analysis of Japanese, German, and U.S. teaching advises us to make schools places where teachers have the time and support to systematically study and improve upon their daily work. How sensible!

About the Author

James Stigler, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at UCLA and Director of the TIMSS video studies, is coauthor of Simon & Schuster's highly praised book The Learning Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can Learn from Japanese and Chinese Education. He lives in Los Angeles.

James Hiebert, Ph.D., is H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Education at the University of Delaware and coauthor of the popular book for teachers, Making Sense: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Understanding. He lives in Kemblesville, Pennsylvania.