Thinking about “Corporate Reform”: Reflections on Language | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Thinking about “Corporate Reform”: Reflections on Language | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Thinking about “Corporate Reform”: Reflections on Language

by larrycuban

Critics of the contemporary school reform agenda of test-based accountability, evaluating and paying teachers on the basis of test scores, more charter schools, and Common Core Standards point to the stakeholders in the civic, philanthropic, and business led coalition (e.g., Walton, Gates, and Broad foundations, hedge fund managers, mayors who have taken over city schools, testing companies) that have linked education and the economy since the 1980s. These critics argue that this reform agenda seeks to turn schools into market-driven organizations where consumer choice reigns and teaching and learning are commodities to be packaged and delivered. Critics call such policies “corporate school reform,” a phrase unintended as a compliment.

Examples of what critics say:

From veteran teacher and writer Stanley Karp:

“[T]he testing regime … is the main engine of corporate reform to extend the narrow