Book excerpt: Underachievement in school is one of the most widely used terms in education today. As a discourse it has been responsible for influencing government policy, staffroom discussions, as well as the pages of academic journals and the TES. It is also a subject which raises questions about what we expect from a fair and equitable education system. This book provides a critical analysis of two sides of the underachievement debate, at each of the three levels of focus - international, the UK and the individual. On the one hand, it will consider the 'crisis' account; of falling standards and failing pupils and, on the other, present an alternative account, which urges a re-evaluation of the underachievement debate in order to consider who might be underachieving and why.