"Left Back" seeks to make the case that "Educational Progressives" since the late 19th century have been the chief source of supposed failed educational reforms that have plagued U.S. public schools. The book weakens its case, however, by ignoring extensive evidence that would undermine its thesis. This review was originally published in History of Education Quarterly, (41), 4, 550-553, Winter 2000.

Jay Greene argues that early evidence suggests that Florida's "A-Plus" accountability program led to significant improvement on test scores at public schools threatened with vouchers. Since the release of that study, other researchers have reexamined the data and questioned Greene's findings.

Jay Greene makes five criticisms of Camilli and Bulkley's "Critique of 'An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability and School Choice Program.'" This rejoinder briefly comments on each criticism.