Featuring current information and challenging perspectives on the latest issues and forces shaping the American educational system--with scholarship that is often cited as a primary source--Joel Spring introduces readers to the historical, political, social, and legal foundations of education and to the profession of teaching in the United States. In his signature straightforward, concise approach to describing complex issues, he illuminates events and topics that are often overlooked or whitewashed, giving students the opportunity to engage in critical thinking about education. Students come away informed on the latest topics, issues, and data and with a strong knowledge of the forces shaping the American educational system.

Thoroughly updated throughout, the new edition of this clear, authoritative text remains fresh and up-to-date, reflecting the many changes in education that have occurred since the publication of the previous edition. Topics and issues addressed and analyzed include:

- The decline of the Common Core State Standards, particularly as result of a Republican-controlled administration currently in place
- Increasing emphasis on for-profit education, vouchers, charter schools, and free-market competition between schools, expected to surge with the appointment of the new U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
- Current debates about immigration and "Dreamers"--new statistics on immigrant education, discussion of education proposals to accommodate the languages, cultures, and religions of newly arrived immigrants
- New education statistics on school enrollments, dropouts, education and income, school segregation, charter schools, and home languages
- The purposes of education as presented in the 2016 platforms of the Republican, Democratic, Green, and Libertarian parties
- Discussions around transgender students