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Friday, September 30, 2011

The Herald-Sun - Challenging culture of teach to the test

The Herald-Sun - Challenging culture of teach to the test:

Challenging culture of "teach to the test"
09.29.11 - 06:30 pm
By Melody Guyton Butts

mbutts@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM — Diane Ravitch — education professor, author, former U.S. assistant secretary of education and an outspoken skeptic about national testing — will speak about school reform Monday at Duke University.

Durham school board member Natalie Beyer on Wednesday called the internationally known education activist “an extraordinary advocate for America’s public school students and teachers” and said she hopes all of Durham’s teachers and principals are able to attend the talk.

Among those firmly planted in Page Auditorium on Monday evening will be Rogers-Herr Middle School teacher Dov Rosenberg, who said Ravitch’s voice is a voice of reason at a time when teachers often are under attack.

He was disheartened after seeing the documentary “Waiting for Superman” and its emphasis on charter schools as the answer to the nation’s education woes. “I was just