Education: Inside U.S. Schools

Despite all the exciting reforms in U.S. schools, a prime problem remains. That problem is teachers—teachers who do not understand math and foreign languages, teachers unequipped to carry out new methods such as programed learning, teachers who cannot recognize the hunger of children to learn, teachers who may simply be none too bright. So says a reporter who lately spent 30 months in the rarely performed effort of finding out exactly what goes on in U.S. classrooms.

Bankrolled by his bestseller on advertising, Madison Avenue, U.S.A., Martin Prager Mayer, 33, spent 30 months visiting...