Robert Dreeben is one of the most widely read and influential sociologists of education of the past half-century and the author of several important books, one of which (the 1968 classic On What Is Learned in School) has recently been republished by Percheron Press.

In this volume inspired by Dreebens work and career, chapters written by Dreebens colleagues, students, and even one of his mentors present the latest academic research on schools and schooling and examine recent and ongoing school reform policies. The contributors address schooling and socialization, school organization and effects, teaching as an occupation, and other areas of sociology of education where Dreebens research has had a profound impact. A concluding chapter by Dreeben discusses the field of sociology of education as a whole.

The concepts in Stability and Change in American Education demonstrate the centrality of Dreebens work in sociology of education and the relevance of his ideas for understanding schools, teaching, and learning in the twenty-first century. The book will serve as a valuable resource for researchers and scholars seeking to understand the processes and problems of teaching and learning. Policymakers and reformers will also find it to be an indispensable aid since it documents some of the possibilities and successes of school reform, while also showing the challengeschallenges all too often unaddressed by overly simplistic reform policies.