With due respect, your argument is moronic…
Since comments on this Jonathan Alter hit-piece against Diane Ravitch appears to have “closed” comments, I included my rebuttal here:
Healthy Skepticism
I am a teacher in a so-called failing school. I have spent my 10+ year career teaching in high poverty schools. Like most schools in poor neighborhoods, they have been low performing, and always in one of the many “reform” programs that have been promulgated during my career (California’s II-USP, Program Improvement under NCLB, and “Turn Around” Reform under RttT).
So-called “miracle” results are used as a blunt instrument to rap those of us teaching in those schools about our heads when we are not able to lift test scores more than the 5% a year that is a reasonable increase. It is perfectly reasonable to question these miracles by comparing scores to other tests because you are not saying