Winner of the Grawemeyer Award

“In their brave search for depth in American high schools, scholars Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine suffered many disappointments…Undeterred, they spent 750 hours observing classes, interviewed more than 300 people, and produced the best book on high school dynamics I have ever read.”
—Jay Mathews, Washington Post

“A hopeful, easy-to-read narrative on what the best teachers do and what deep, engaging learning looks like for students. Grab this text if you’re looking for a celebration of what’s possible in American schools.”
—Edutopia

“This is the first and only book to depict not just the constraints on good teaching, but also how good teachers transcend them. A superb book in every way: timely, lively, and entertaining.”
—Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania

What would it take to transform our high schools into places capable of supporting deep learning for students across a wide range of aptitudes and interests? To find out, Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine spent hundreds of hours observing and talking to teachers and students in and out of the classroom at thirty of the country’s most innovative schools. To their dismay, they discovered that deeper learning is more often the exception than the rule. And yet they found pockets of powerful learning at almost every school, often in extracurriculars but also in a few mold-breaking academic courses. So what must schools do to achieve the integrations that support deep learning: rigor with joy, precision with play, mastery with identity and creativity?

In Search of Deeper Learning takes a deep dive into the state of our schools and lays out an inspiring new vision for American education.

"In their brave search for depth in American high schools, scholars Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine suffered many disappointments… Undeterred, they spent 750 hours observing classes, interviewed more than 300 people, and produced the best book on high school dynamics I have ever read." - Washington Post

"A hopeful, easy-to-read narrative on what the best teachers do and what deep, engaging learning looks like for students. Grab this text if you’re looking for a celebration of what’s possible in American schools." - Edutopia

"Lucid and engaging… The authors offer lively vignettes, a framework grounded in history and research, and a powerful, precise, and organized critical analysis. Mehta and Fine’s account of a holistic model for cultivating ‘learners ready to meet the challenges of the modern world’ will be as accessible to an intelligent parent as to a school board administrator." - Publishers Weekly

"This vision of teaching offers some hope for the future…This work will challenge educators to rethink how adolescents should learn…For those who are ready to transform schools." - Library Journal

"Having discovered how the best environments promote deeper learning, Mehta and Fine suggest ways teachers and schools can apply some of these principles to their classrooms and hallways." - MindShift

"Compellingly argued, thoroughly researched, and accessibly written…Offers a clear set of ideas for moving forward if we make the goal of deeper learning a priority in American education." - Contemporary Sociology