Diane Ravitch's blog
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DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG
What Schools Should Do in Crisis Times
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 20 hours ago
After the hurricane, Mayor Bloomberg was eager to reopen the city’s public schools as soon as possible for the 1.1 million children enrolled. He worried that they were “losing time” and had to get back to their studies, back to normal. The facts that many of the schools suffered damage, that many were turned into [...]
Will Tennessee Create an ALEC-Style Charter Board to Trump Local Boards?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 21 hours ago
The right-wing group called ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) has model legislation to enable a governor to appoint a commission to authorize charter schools, thus bypassing those pesky local school boards that don’t want to bring privately managed schools to their local district. The local school boards are charged with improving their schools, not with [...]
The Boston Globe’s Mad Love Crush on Charters
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 21 hours ago
EduShyster has done it again. This time she nails the Boston Globe. This is the Boston Globe’s dream as expressed by its lead education writer: “There’s a lot at stake in the takeover of the Gavin by UP Academy. If it succeeds at raising student achievement with an identical student population, then the main complaint [...]
Nebraska Joins the Honor Roll
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 22 hours ago
This just in from a teacher in Nebraska. The state did not get any Race to the Top funding, and therefore didn’t “win” money that would cost them more to implement than they “won.” It is taking a “wait and see” approach to Common Core standards. It doesn’t want the U.S. Department of Education to [...]
Standards for 0-5?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago
A reader wonders, when do we start assessing parents and caregivers? http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/CCSS/PreK_ELA_Crosswalk.pdf http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/CCSS/PreK_ELA_Crosswalk.pdf Let’s not laugh too hard. I posted the links above in response to Dr. Ravitch’s post called “What are we doing to the little ones?” The links take you to draft Connecticut documents relating to CCSS for preschoolers. The introduction states that [...]
Yet Another Trial of Merit Pay
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman describes here the Newark teachers contract, which was just ratified. The central feature of the contract is merit pay. This particular gimmick is a fixation of billionaire Eli Broad, who calls the shots in the Garden State through Acting Commissioner Chris Cerf and Newark’s Superintendent Cami Anderson, both of whom were “trained” to [...]
How TFA Is Saving the World
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
You may have thought that the biggest problems facing the world were things like war, terrorism, poverty, and growing inequality. If you thought that, you are wrong. What is really needed in every country is an organization prepared to recruit a few dozen smart college graduates and groom them to take over the nation’s education [...]
Eduwonkette: Where Are You Now That We Need You?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
The greatest education blogger ever was Eduwonkette. For some 22 months, the masked woman fired off sharp missives, dissecting bad ideas with hard data and incisive questions. She started her blog at Education Week in January 2007 and kept it going until October 2009, when she figuratively “hung up her cape.” Her stuff was spectacular, [...]
Yertel the Turtle In Detroit
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
The Detroit School Board voted to withdraw from the State’s Educational Achievement Authority after voters repeal the act granting broad powers to emergency managers. Seems that the people in Detroit think they should have something to say about what happens to their public schools and their children. They probably don’t like the idea of turning [...]
Children in Mississippi Are Helping Children in Long Island
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
This makes my day. Michael Vanveckhoven, a reader of this blog sent me a photo of children in Meridian, Mississippi, collecting warm hats and gloves for children in Rockville Center on Long Island in New York. Michael read here a note from high school principal Carol Burris about students whose homes were severely damaged by [...]
How Did David Beat Goliath in Indiana?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Conservatives can’t believe their hero Tony Bennett lost. Bennett had the support of the national conservative establishment. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute had crowned him the American Education Idol. He had nearly $1.5 million to spend. Republicans loved his attacks on unions. The Obama administration loved his support for the Common Core standards. He is [...]
Should Computers Grade Essays?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Todd Farley is the scourge of standardized testing. His book, “Making the Grades,” is a shocking exposé of the industry. Todd spent nearly 15 years scoring tests, and he knows the tricks of the trade. In this article, he skewers the latest testing craze: machine-scoring of essays. Having demonstrated the fallibility of humans who score [...]
Teachers: Please Advise This N.C. Mother about Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
I received this comment from a mother in North Carolina. Her daughter is in first grade, where the school is implementing the Common Core math curriculum. Her daughter is confused, and so is the mother. I am reaching out to the teachers who read this blog. Can you help her? What advice do you have? [...]
When Basketball Adopted the NCLB Rules
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
A reader sent this wonderful analogy, which was published today in Undernews: No high school basketball player left behind All teams must make the state playoffs and all must win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, it will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held [...]
How to Avoid Hurting Kids and Schools in Fiscal Crisis
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Leonie Haimson has some excellent ideas about where to make budget cuts and how to raise revenues to protect children in the looming fiscal crisis. Haimson is executive director of Class Size Matters in New York City and has long been the city’s leading parent activist. Her ability to analyze research and budgets is astounding. [...]
How Corporate Reformers Are Invading Vermont
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
An email arrived: Dear Dr. Ravitch, Even in Vermont, we are being influenced by Gates money. Here are two sites which may be of interest. We (www.bfasta.net) are a comprehensive high school with an excellent track record (graduates at Harvard, MIT, NYU, as well as grads being successful in the trades, state schools, etc.), but [...]
Are Colleges Spending Too Much on Administrators?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
John Hechinger has written an important critique of administrative salaries in higher education. His article focuses on Purdue, an outstanding university known for its engineering programs. The university has a long list of administrators who do supervision or marketing and are paid far more than full professors. Makes you wonder if the university–and Purdue is [...]
Two Big Legislative Victories in Florida
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Kathleen Oropeza of Fund Education Now is one of the state’s leading education activists. She reports here on two crucial races for the State Legislature. In one contest, public education advocate Mike Clelland narrowly beat the future leader of the House, even though the Republican incumbent had a 12-1 funding advantage. In the other race, [...]
Michigan Plans to Expand Power of Emergency Manager Covington
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Last week, voters in Michigan repealed the state’s draconian emergency manager law, which allowed a hand-picked appointee of the governor to abolish public education in financially stressed districts. In two of those districts, the emergency manager turned the children over to for-profit charter chains. To compensate for the repeal, the Legislature in Michigan plans to [...]
Pedro Noguera’s Good Agenda Going Forward
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Pedro Noguera, my colleague at New York University, took my place as blogging partner with Deborah Meier at “Bridging Differences.” In his latest column, Pedro says that it is not enough to recognize that No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have failed. It is necessary to shape a new agenda. Pedro offers [...]
Charters Expand Despite Lack of Evidence for Their Success
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Joy Resmovits has a good article at Huffington Post describing the growth of charter school enrollments and the absence of adequate oversight. Currently, about 5 percent of all American students are enrolled in these privately managed schools. In some urban districts, the proportion is much larger. The districts with the greatest number of students in [...]
Researcher: Is New Orleans a District in “Academic Crisis”?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Research on Reforms, a research group in New Orleans, reviewed the latest state test scores and school grades. The author of the report and one of the founders of the organization, Charles Hatfield, can’t understand why New Orleans has been treated by its champions as a national model. Here is his overview of the state [...]
Good News from Florida
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
I should have reported this sooner, but other election returns distracted me. Jeb Bush’s latest privatization scheme suffered a major setback at the hands of Florida voters. He and his allies pushed Amendment 8 to allow public funds to flow to religious schools. As usual with “reform” measures, this one had a misleading name. It [...]
Sirota Exposes the Big Lie Technique
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
David Sirota, an author and talk-show host, here analyzes the election results and says they exposed the Big Lie of the corporate reform movement. The public is not hankering to privatize their public schools. The corporate leaders and rightwing establishment dropped millions of dollars to push their agenda of privatization, teacher-bashing and anti-unionism. They lost [...]
Burris Dismantles Teacher-Bashing Myths
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Carol Burris demolishes myths about teacher evaluation that were contained in a recent opinion piece in Phi Delta Kappan. Frankly, it is pretty shocking to see that the editor of this journal for educators believes that standardized testing should have any role in evaluating teachers. We are already seeing a renewed emphasis on teaching to [...]
Talking Down to Parents in Memphis
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
There is a new blogger in Memphis. Thus we get the low-down on how parents were treated by the “reformers.” Read this. The condescension is startling. The local Portfolio Manager (!) let everyone know that public hearings give them a chance to vent. Eventually, the parents will understand that wiser heads than theirs are making [...]
K12 Says: Elections Present New Business Opportunities
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Soon after the elections, the mega-corporation K12 convened a conference call with investors to boast about the opening of new markets for virtual charters in Georgia and Washington State. K12 is the company founded by the Milken brothers to sell online schooling for-profit. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its CEO, Ron [...]
Testing Toddlers in Louisiana?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Louisiana plans to test 3- and 4-year- olds. This is out-of-control testing fanaticism. We have come to expect extremism in Louisiana. The state is placing its bets on high-stakes testing and privatization. Andrea Gabor, who writes about business and education, interviewed early childhood specialists in Louisiana. They think the people making the new laws and [...]
Camika Royal Responds to Critics
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Camika Royal, a historian of education and Teach for America alum, write a provocative post in which she called on people to stop using the term “achievement gap.” In her original post, she said the term is offensive and demeaning and explained why. The post generated many responses. I invited Dr. Royal to respond to [...]
How a Leading Rightwing Group Views the Election
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
The Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C., is one of the nation’s leading advocates for privatization of public education. Its leader, Jeanne Allen, was an education policy analyst at the rightwing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, before she founded CER in 1993: The Center for Education Reform has long advocated for charters and vouchers. [...]
A Parent Explains the Chaos of NYC School Reform
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
This parent offered testimony to the Néw York City Council, explaining the incoherence of reform in Néw York City. She described how the Mayor dissolved geographic districts and replaced them with a structure that no one understands, a structure that leaves parents out in the cold. Her comments about the “Children’s First Networks” created by [...]
Is This “Irreplaceable” Teacher a Bitch?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
This post was written by a young teacher in New York City. A law school graduate, she teaches special education in the Bronx in one of he city’s poorest neighborhoods. She requested anonymity, for obvious reasons. She asks: Is it worse to be called a bitch (by a student) or to be treated like one [...]
A Bad Joke, Not Funny
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
A reader passed along this speculation about a possible replacement for Duncan.
Why Charter Lobby Pushed San Diego Bond Issue
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
San Diego had a bond issue on the ballot. It passed handily. It appeared to be a great victory for public schools. But unknown to many, there was a sweet deal tucked into the bond issue. The district will get $2.8 billion in loans, but $350 million is set aside for charters. Decisions about how [...]
A Superintendent’s Advice to President Obama
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Jere Hochman runs an exemplary school district in Bedford, New York. Before the election, he wrote an eloquent letter (which I posted though I may not have used his name) on why everyone should support President Obama. He convinced me. He also promised me that after the election, he would speak out about the need [...]
The Real Crisis in The Cleveland Public Schools
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Louis Filippelli, a teacher in the Cleveland public schools, writes that all of the most popular nostrums about school reform are wrong. The governor, the mayor, the teachers’ union, the business community, and elected representatives are on the wrong track, he says. More money, he writes, won’t solve the fundamental problem in the school, which [...]
A Union Leader Joins the Honor Roll
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Ronnie Greco, who is leader of the Jersey City Education Association, joins our honor roll of heroes of public education. Ronnie refused to sign Jersey City’s application for a Race to the Top grant for $40 million. Ronnie quickly figured out that not a penny of the $40 million would solve any problem that Jersey [...]
Support Indiana Superintendent-Elect Glenda Ritz
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Parent groups in Indiana have posted a petition on change.org calling on the elected officials of the state to respect the voters’ choice of Glenda Ritz. In early statements, the governor, the governor-elect and some legislative leaders indicated tat they would stand by Tony Bennett’s agenda, which the people of Indiana rejected. Parents called on [...]
Teachers’ Facebook and Phone Campaign for Obama
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Two teachers have started a campaign to take their message to the White House: stop the Race to the Top! The message of their campaign: Give all students the same education your girls are getting! Abandon Race to the Top and stop privatizing public schools. Join them!
EduShyster Credits Stephanie Rivera for SFER Expose
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Earlier, I published a post about Students for Education Reform, linking to a post by EduShyster. SFER is a junior version of Democrats for Education Reform, the group formed by Wall Street hedge fund managers to promote privatization and high-stakes testing. EduShyster here says that the credit for investigative reporting goes to Stephanie Rivera, a [...]
Why Tony Bennett Lost
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Conservative commentators–and Tony Bennett himself–blame Bennett’s loss on his support for the Common Core standards. They say that Bennett lost the votes of some Republicans who oppose the standards as federal over-reach. It’s hard to over-state how Bennett’s loss shocked and bewildered conservatives. He was their super-star. Before that hardens into conventional wisdom, please consider [...]
Matt Di Carlo Reviews TNTP Study of Rhee Reforms
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Matthew Di Carlo of the Albert Shanker Institute always applies a rigorous analysis to any study or report he reviews. Here he looks at the methodological issues raised by the TNTP review of the DC reforms. Among his concerns: the teachers who responded to the TNTP survey were a non-random sample, and those who responded [...]
Traffic Reporter in Tulsa Offers Directions on How to Get to Canada
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Before the election, impassioned supporters of both candidates were threatening to move to Canada. On the traffic report in Tulsa, this helpful newsman offered very specific directions. Watch it. Even the crew was laughing.
The Teacher Bashers Lost
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
This is a very good analysis of the election results that should gladden the hearts of teachers. John Wilson points out that in one state after another, those who disparaged and demeaned teachers lost. They blame their loss on the unions, but the unions have limited numbers. And most of the rightwing candidates (maybe all) [...]
Don’t Forget the Hurricane Victims
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Robert Pondiscio writes movingly about a school that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. PS 333 was a Core Knowledge school, exemplary in many respects. It was unprotected from the ferocity of the storm surge. It had 578 students before the storm. It has 30 or so now, and they have been relocated to a school [...]
The Lowdown on $tudents for Educational Reform
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
EduShyster has done the research and digging on Students for Educational Reform that has thus far eluded mainstream journalists. (This should not be surprising since few journalists have paid much attention to Democrats for Education Reform, the Wall Street hedge fund managers group, which is able to direct millions of dollars to state and local [...]
Data-Driven Ignorance
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
The Shanker blog published a badly needed critique of our policymakers’ insatiable appetite for data by sociologist Esther Quintero. Quintero makes the sage observation that you need to know why you are collecting data before you acclaim its value. You need to have a theory that you are testing. Without knowing which idea you seek [...]
That Deeply Flawed Report About Rhee’s IMPACT Program: UPDATE
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
I am reporting this because I forgot to include the link. As readers of this blog know (and hopefully forgive), I sometimes forget but always try to rectify. Gary Rubinstein closely examined the report written by The New Teacher Report about teacher retention in DC and found it to be deeply flawed. Aside from the [...]
What Grades Do You Give to a First Grader?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
This rural teacher says his head is about to explode. The state says he has to give test after test after test to his first graders. Then he has to convert those scores into a letter grade. This doesn’t make any sense to him. The children are just beginning to make sense of letters and [...]