Explosion of a Myth: Quantity of Schooling and Exposure to Instruction, Major Educational Vehicles

In the last few years, we have been inundated with repetitions of a new schooling myth. From the report on Equality of Educational Opportunity (Coleman et al., 1966) and the most recent reanalyses of its data (Mosteller and Moynihan, 1972) to the Jencks et al book on Inequality (1972), we have been flooded with reports of the lack of effect of schooling. These reports have discouraged professional educators and comforted those who would reduce the resources allocated to education. Moreover, recent teachers' strikes, response to the energy crisis, and budget cutbacks passed on as shorter school years and increased class sizes, all have decreased the amount of