I just read an interesting book, "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a non-fiction book in which the author studies the background and stories of successful people and groups of people. It reminded me somewhat of another favorite book of mine, "Freakonomics." Both books make you look at things in a different way. My favorite chapter was the one in which Gladwell shows the connection between a pilot's culture and airplane crash rates.
Another interesting chapter was when he discussed studies that showed how middle class students do better in school (based on standardized test scores) than lower class students. Based on these studies, many public schools try to pour more money into schools in the poorer areas. Gladwell then discusses how further studies actually showed that the true distance between middle and lower class students didn't occur during school, but during the summer months at home. Because the middle class parents, on average, provided more learning opportunities for children on their own, their children either fell less behind, or even continued to improve, during the summer vacation months. I disagreed with Gladwell, as he argued for the lessening of summer vacation, so that all kids would have the same learning opportunities. But, this chapter strengthened my knowledge that kids excel when parents are involved. We can't leave our job to anyone else.
Actually, in general, I loved the studies that he provided and discussed, although I didn't always agree with his conclusions. Probably because I believe that parents and families should be encouraged and taught to provide the opportunities that will help a person "succeed" rather than looking to society or government to provide the opportunities. I highly recommend this book to anyone (and thanks, Nate, for the recommendation).
