The tradition of active learning - a view of learning that is constructivist, progressive, and as deeply committed to student achievement as any standards-based scheme - has a long and distinguished pedigree in American educational thought and practice, but its value has been ignored in the rush to achieve high test scores. Martin Bickman urges us to reconsider the alternative vision of such seminal thinkers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, John Dewey, and George Dennison as he weaves an incisive synthesis of American literary innovation, philosophy, and school reform.