Bell Curve Author to Question College Goal in New Book

Charles Murray is about to publish a book about education—and he promises that educators won’t like it.

Fourteen years after The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure drew wide condemnation for its racially charged arguments on achievement, the author’s latest book, Real Education , will dispute the premise underlying much of education policy: All children should be challenged to achieve at high levels during their K-12 careers and pursue further education after high school.

“It’s just idiotic,” Mr. Murray said of such beliefs...