The Knowledge Gap

While Wexler's message on improving education will be interesting to any parent, school official, or educator, her narration will leave them wanting. She argues quite convincingly that the missing piece in our educational system is a meaningful focus on building a student's knowledge base in order to help them develop skills. However, the education debates since the 1980s have missed this key element, leaving children less capable upon graduation. She demonstrates the impact of these issues by following two classes of students over the course of a school year. Her narration does well in re-creating classroom dialogue but is a bit too laconic and disinterested when narrating the straight narrative. She provides some emphasis, but, overall, her tone sounds too distant for the listener to become absorbed in. L.E. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine