Some commentators also argue that in industrialized countries there is no correlation between school achievement and economic success but that educational reforms often are the least controversial way of planning social improvement.^c School changes are less threatening than are direct structural changes, which can involve confronting the whole organization of industry and government. Reforming education, it is claimed, is easier and less expensive than examining and correcting the societal problems that affect our schools directly—economic weaknesses, wealth and income inequality, an aging population, the prevalence of violence and drug abuse, and the restructuring of work.

Because there is not a well-developed literature on the effectiveness of K–12 learning and teaching interventions, it is challenging to recommend programs with high confidence. For example, some have argued that the International Baccalaureate program has established neither teacher qualifications nor standards for faculties and that the Advanced Placement curriculum needs better quality control.^d Others have suggested that summer teacher-education programs are merely vehicles for textbook companies; others argue that any teacher-education programis worthless unless there is a strong in-classroom, continuing mentoring component.