That Was Then
Asked a perfectly reasonable question about the differing roles think tanks and universities play in the career arc of education researchers, Diane Ravitch responds as follows:
These are indeed two different worlds. Different definitions of success. Different career ladders. Think-tankers blog. Blogging counts for nothing in ed school world. Academe requires peer review before publication; thinktankia does not. Ed schools focused on ideology, methods, closer to schools and practitioners. Thinktankia focused on politics, outcomes, “results,” connections with policymakers. Ed schools tend to see education issues from ground up. Think tanks from top down. Ed schools see through eyes of practitioners. Think tanks through eyes of policymakers (seeing like a state). Ed schools veer to left. Think tanks veer to right. Ed schools identify with powerless. Think tanks identify with powerful.
Diane Ravitch was for many years an active member of the Board of Trustees at the Thomas B. Fordham
