"A lot of people," Mr. Buckley begins, "are doing a lot of despairing these days

about education, and there is a great deal to despair about." Steadily declining test scores, remedial reading being needed at the most selective colleges, disciplinary problems at all levels. Mr. Riles, Mr. Buckley tells us, "in his quiet, non-dogmatic way ... has reassured many people that some sort of progress is being made." This proves to a nicely detailed examination of education issues, ranging from the reliability of test scores, to the question of who should receive higher education, to Nelson Rockefeller's dyslexia. WR: "We've found that older students really stimulate youngsters. I taught first in a one-room school, and I did not have the sophisticated terminology about cross-age tutoring--that's what they call it today. I just had to have the older youngsters help the younger ones, and they responded."