One of the most sought-after goals in the world of marketing is a high degree of consumer satisfaction. But in the world of education, satisfaction by itself should not be the criterion for success. If both satisfaction and performance are high, we have cause for celebration. If satisfaction is high and performance is low, as is currently the case in the United States, we have cause for serious alarm. According to Stevenson and Stigler in "The Learning Gap", American parents whose children generally score below Asian children on tests of academic achievement, gave the most positive evaluations when asked about their children's schools and how their children were performing. If the children are doing well, such high levels of satisfaction would be justified. Experiential learning theory draws on the work of many 20th century scholars who have given experience a central role in their theories of human learning and development- notably John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, Williams James, Carl Jung, Paulo Freire, Carl Rogers and other- to develop a holistic model of the experiential learning process and a multi- linear model ( Kolb 1984). Maintaining high levels of satisfaction with poor performance creates a huge obstacle to the improvement of education. Before you can solve a problem, you have to admit that you have a problem. Why should children study hard if their parents already express high levels of satisfaction? Why should schools pursue reform with enthusiasm and resolve when they already meet generally high levels of public approval? Americans want a good life for their children. They want their children to be happy and well adjusted. But Americans have not realized that access to the good life and happiness in the future will be blocked if we fail to prepare our children for the competition they will face in a more competitive world.

As Americans, we