There is indeed a literacy crisis, but this crisis needs to be reconceived as a crisis in definition. Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo's book "Literacy: Reading the Word and the World" can be used to refute E. D. Hirsch's arguments as presented in his "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know," but this kind of…

Argues that a conventional "back-to-basics" classroom structure (with emphasis on drill, recitation, and ability grouping; a narrow view of curriculum; and reliance on comparative marking and grading as the sole method of evaluation) will reinforce racist beliefs about intellectual incompetence of minority children. (RH)