What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know? Gives the results of the first nationwide test of American high school students' knowledge of history and literature, as well as fascinating insight into what teenagers are reading, how much television they watch, what influence their home environment has on their academic achievement, and what historical topics and literary works are included in (or have been dropped from) the school curriculum.

Diane Ravitch, a historian of education, is Research Professor at New York University, holds Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution, and is a Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. A former Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of many awards, she is also the author of the recent book Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms.