Benn and Downs robustly challenge eight of the most commonly ingrained myths about our schools - such as the claim that 'comprehensive education has failed' - providing compelling evidence to support their arguments in every case. It's invaluable reading - Teach Secondary The Truth About Our Schools powerfully combines Melissa Benn's forceful prose ... Read morewith Janet Downs's solid professional experience into a book which is at once readable and authoratative - Francis Beckett, Third Age Matters This book is most timely and deserves to be read by a wide audience including educators and politicians - Sarah Brew, Parents in Touch This slim but vital volume is sub-titled `Exposing the myths, exploring the evidence', and indeed the seven most common myths are taken apart. Comprehensively. Starting with that big whopper, that comprehensive education has failed, the book moves through local authority `control' of schools, how choice and competition produce success, academies raise standards, teachers don't need qualifications, the magic DNA of private schools (of course, there is one - parental wealth and connections), and ends with the perennial progressive teaching lowers standards. - Educational Politics Show Less