Holmes presents a textured picture of the difficulties facing schools in Canada. He examines the social background of students and the competing goals of parents, teachers, and governments. He criticizes progressivism, or child-centred education, and speaks out against the closed-mindedness of the educational establishment. He also looks at current research on effective and ineffective schools, as well as on education achievement in national and international terms. His findings show that the difficulties facing Canadian schools are not caused by a lack of money but by a poor allocation of funds. Increasingly frustrated parents, dedicated teachers, and discouraged professors will find The Reformation of Canada's Schools a welcome source of ideas, information, and thought-provoking possibilities for combating the crisis in Canadian education.

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"Holmes has, without blinking, seriously confronted the educational establishment with a courageous challenge and plethora of studies, all of which show that the ruling pedagogies of the educational élite, especially those of child-centred learning, are largely without empirical foundation. While mounds of books have been written on 'progressive education' there have been few books, if any, that bring together, and argue so well, for opening up the educational establishment to more competition from alternative schools, increased parental involvement, and more direct forms of classroom instruction." Colin O'Connell, co-author of Liberal Education and Value Relativism