The Teaching Gap

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.

“Sandra FeldmanPresident, American Federation of TeachersFor 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!”

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.

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.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.