"If you'd like to see public education thrive, here is a book to bolster your arguments. Down-to-earth writing and excellent choice of content allow vitally important concepts about schooling in contemporary America to be analyzed and easily comprehended. It is one of the clearest discussions of curriculum issues and their meaning and importance for our teachers, schools, parents and yes, for our nation as well. Every schools' decision about curriculum is a decision about what's in and what's out of the knowledge base for students in their state or nation. This insightful and highly readable book explains why these decisions should never be made lightly." -- David C. Berliner, Arizona State University ""Education is plagued with good intentions gone awry, particularly when the follow-through is framed by commonsensical assumptions that lack a sound research basis. Hinchey and Konkol paint a compelling and nuanced picture of exactly how this is happening in many core areas of schooling, and then offer concrete tools for reframing and reimagining.

In this moment when too many so-called reforms are taking advantage of seductive rhetoric, educators and policy makers alike who are fortunate enough to pick up this book will find themselves at once enraptured, unsettled, and more hopeful."" -- Kevin Kumashiro ""In this provocative and compelling book, Pat Hinchey and Pamela Konkol challenge us to rethink assumptions about teaching, learning, and curriculum. Their powerful text details assumptions currently dominating neoliberal education reform as well as alternative perspectives, illuminating complexities in critical issues that often go unexamined. Those who care about public education and the imperative of its deep potential need to read, contemplate, and take purposeful action prompted in Getting to Where We Meant to Be." -- Brian D. Schultz, Miami University.