He is a proponent of progressive education and has offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting, managing, and American society more generally, drawing in each case from social science research.

He has also denounced the effects of the test-driven "accountability" movement – in general, but particularly on low-income and minority students – arguing that "the more poor children fill in worksheets on command (in an effort to raise their test scores), the further they fall behind affluent kids who are more likely to get lessons that help them understand ideas.

[19] Another book by Kohn, The Myth of the Spoiled Child (2014), addresses common assumptions about "overindulged" kids, "helicopter" parents, self-esteem, and self-discipline, and it criticizes what he calls "the deeply conservative ideology" behind complaints that children receive trophies, praise, and "A"s too easily.

Both attracted considerable attention in business circles, particularly when the late W. Edwards Deming, known for inspiring the quality improvement movement in organizations, endorsed both books.

[citation needed] Kohn spoke at conferences and individual corporations on management during the 1990s, and his work was debated in the Harvard Business Review,[20] CFO Magazine, the American Compensation Association Journal, and other publications.

This includes eight on issues in education (e.g., homework, standardized testing, grades, teaching styles), two on parenting, and four on general topics (e.g. human nature, competition, motivation).