The Call to Reform Liberal Education: Great Books of 1987 (Book Review)

Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. 392p. $18.95 (ISBN 0671-47990-3). LC 86-24768. Boyer, Ernest L. College: The Undergraduate Experience in America. New York: Harper, 1987. 328p. (ISBN 0-06-0155078). LC 85-45182. Hirsch, Jr., E. D. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. 251p. $16.95 (ISBN 0-395-43095-X). LC 86-21352. Ravitch, Diane, and Chester E. Finn, Jr. What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know? AReport on the First National Assessment of History and Literature. New York: Harper, 1987. 293p. $15.95 (ISBN 0-06015849-2). LC 87-45432. Wolf, Howard, The Education of a Teacher: Essays on American Culture. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1987. 299p. $22.95 (ISBN 0-87975-374-9). LC 8710885. A remarkable number of titles was published in 1987 analyzing college teaching and learning and the educational achievement of college students. Four of the most significant titles are discussed here. Since academic preparation for college is a closely related topic, What Do Our 17-YearOlds Know? is also reviewed. This clustering of titles on undergraduate education signals a strong trend toward assessing student literacy levels and improving college-level instruction. This reform movement is not taking place solely within academe. These serious works, published in trade presses, are reaching a very wide popular audience. Both Closing of the American Mind and Cultural Literacy have enjoyed a number of weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.