Diane Ravitch's blog
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Should Teachers Be Armed?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 14 hours ago
I must begin by saying this is satire. If I don’t, some readers will take it seriously. It was written by Paul Karrer, an elementary teacher in California. He is responding to the demand from some quarters that teachers should be armed. Read here and see what Paul thinks.
Why NYC Closes High Schools But Shouldn’t
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 15 hours ago
The New York Times published a page one story about the closing of the Jonathan M. Levin High School in the Bronx. The school was opened ten years ago to commemorate the life and tragic death of a young teacher who happened to be the son of the CEO of AOL Time Warner. He was [...]
What Mayor Bloomberg Wants More Than Anything in the Schools
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 15 hours ago
Mayor Bloomberg believes that having a high-quality teacher is crucial, and most people would agree with him. Mayor Bloomberg also thinks that class size is unimportant, and most parents and teachers would disagree with him. In the past, he said that he would be happy if he could double the class size and double teachers’ [...]
Will You Say This to Your School Board?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 16 hours ago
John Stoffel went to his school board in Indiana and delivered this message. Would you do the same in your district? Stoffel said: A little over two months ago, tragedy unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary. By the next school day, my school had safeguarded every reasonable security measure. Today, our district is still hammering out [...]
Join NYC Protest Against Closing Schools: March 3
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 16 hours ago
Most of the public schools that are closed enroll disproportionate numbers of students who are black, brown, poor, English-language learners, and in special education. These kids get pushed from school to school because schools are graded by their test scores and they don’t want to take risky students, if they can avoid it. This is [...]
Great News from San Diego!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 17 hours ago
The San Diego school board has selected a highly respected, successful elementary school principal as its new superintendent. Cindy Marten runs a terrific school that is child-centered and community-centered. It is an exemplar of the San Diego concept of community-based school reform. When I was in San Diego last year, the superintendent Bill Kowba made [...]
Does Effectiveness Matter? Or Profit?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 18 hours ago
A reader in New Mexico shares this information. If the state commission does a study of effectiveness, the virtual charter schools will never win approval. Here is the comment: I thought this might be of interest to you. I live in New Mexico and recently our Public Education Commission denied the charter application for a [...]
Oregon: Legislator and Teachers Speak Out Against High-Stakes Testing
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 21 hours ago
When I was in Portland, Oregon, last year, I met a very impressive and thoughtful state legislator, Lew Frederick. Please watch this video, which begins with Representative Frederick’s passionate plea for a new vision of the outcomes that matter most for students–not test scores on a single day–but the kind of person they are, the [...]
Indiana: Here Comes Carpe Diem, Like It or Not
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 22 hours ago
Karen Francisco, one of our nation’s best education writers, cares about the future of public education. Writing for the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, she has closely watched the games that privatizers play. In this article, she describes a startling decision by a state board to authorize Carpe Diem, an unproven charter school, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As [...]
PTA Mom Explains Why She Marched to Save Public Schools
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago
Kim Burkett went to Austin with her children to speak out for public schools and her community. She noticed there were two different rallies. On one side of the building was a school choice rally, advocating for vouchers, attended by 30 people, including lobbyists. On the other side were thousands of parents, students, grandparents, and [...]
Pearson: 2012 Was a Terrific Year
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago
Coach Bob Sikes has been reading Pearson’s report to investors. 2012 was a really good year. No mention of Pineapplegate: ” The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a consortium of 23 states, awarded Pearson and Educational Testing Service (ETS) the contract to develop test items that will be part of [...]
Welfare for the Rich?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago
Yesterday, the GOP legislature in Alabama rushed through legislation for tax credits without letting anyone outside their caucus debate or review the bill. This is what you need to know about tax credits and who really benefits. StudentsFirst rushed to applaud this program to benefit the few at the expense of the many, proving that [...]
Turning Water into Wine: The Florida Faux Miracle
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Julian Vasquez Heilig of the University of Texas is one of our greatest debunkers of educational miracles. And what good timing, because Jeb Bush was in town to tout the Florida miracle, where (he says) test scores went up as costs went down. It’s all a matter of more testing, more accountability, vouchers, charters, and [...]
A Great Voice for Public Education in Arizona
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
If you live in Arizona and you care about your community’s public schools, then you must know Robin Hiller. Arizona is often known as “the Wild West of charter schools,” where charters are allowed to get public money with nearly no supervision and are allowed to ignore laws about nepotism and conflicts. Remember the Arizona [...]
Will Republicans Kill Vouchers in Texas and Wisconsin?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
When I was in Texas last week, several people–including state legislators–told me that they believe that rural Republicans will join Democrats in voting down vouchers. The rural Republicans know that vouchers would kill their local public schools, and they don’t believe that would be right. Something similar may be happening in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker [...]
Democrats Outraged in Alabama as GOP Passes Tax Credit Bill
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Democrats were in a state of fury in Alabama as the legislature swiftly passed a bill to give tax credits to corporations and individuals so that students in “failing schools” can attend private schools with public money. “Republicans heralded it as a historic day for education and life-altering for children stuck in poorly performing schools. [...]
A Teacher Writes New Book about the Corporate Reform Movement
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
One of the readers of this blog, experienced teacher Brian Ford, has written a new book. It seems to encapsulate the major themes of today’s privatization movement. Respect for Teachers and the Rhetoric Gap: How Research on Teaching and Schools is Laying the Ground for New Business Models in Education (A New Economy Story about [...]
Who Owns This School?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
A charter school in Sarasota, Florida, is in court over a simple question: who owns the school? The for-profit corporation Imagine Schools says it owns the school. The board of the charter fired Imagine and says the board owns the school. The board didn’t like paying Imagine nearly $1 million a year for its services. [...]
A Brief Video Explains Why VAM in Louisiana is a Sham: UPDATE
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Sorry, I forgot the link! Here it is: This video was created by Herbert Bassett. Herb Bassett is a Louisiana music teacher who also holds a math minor. His principal asked him in October to investigate Louisiana’s school performance scores. Since then, Herb has also done work to explain and expose Louisiana’s value added [...]
Mathematica: KIPP Produces Big Gains
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Mathematica Policy Research has good news for KIPP. Their students make significant gains. The press release follows with a link to the report and summary of the findings. A few questions occur to me about the replicability of the KIPP model. First, KIPP has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from philanthropists and the U.S. [...]
Paul Thomas: How to Solve the “Top Student Crisis”
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Some of the leading thinkers of our day decided that our really big crisis is not the low test scores of the bottom 10%, but the desultory gains of our top 10%. This is known as the “top student crisis.” Where would American education be, after all, if a day went by without another crisis? [...]
How Do You Fight Back Without Getting Fired?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
This reader asks the question of the day, which is the title of this post. If you are doing a job you want to do but are required to do what you know is wrong, what do you do? One answer: join with others who agree with you. Find others teachers who feel the same. [...]
New Jersey: Save Money By Cutting Staff for Special Education
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Just when you think the corporate reformers have run out of ways to hurt children and kneecap educators, they pull another trick out of their bag. In New Jersey, the state board of education proposes to cut staff trained to identify and manage the cases of special education students and turn the job over to [...]
David Coleman Will Change the SAT to Align with Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
David Coleman, widely acknowledged as the “architect” of the Common Core standards, was selected last year as CEO of the College Board. He announced recently that the SAT will be redesigned to reflect the Common Core. Get to know David Coleman. He is now the de facto controller of American education. He decided what your [...]
Philly Columnist: Time for Teachers to Strike
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Philadelphia columnist Will Bunch couldn’t believe the onerous, mean-spirited proposal made by school officials to the city’s teachers. They are asked to accept a cut in pay and benefits, larger classes, a longer work day, and, adding insult to injury, no copying machines or supplies, no water fountains or parking facilities, not even desks. Students [...]
Why Leon Wieseltier Loves Teachers
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
This essay by Leon Wieseltier appeared in a recent issue of “The New Republic”: WHEN I LOOK BACK at my education, I am struck not by how much I learned but by how much I was taught. I am the progeny of teachers; I swoon over teachers. Even what I learned on my own I [...]
High-Stakes Testing in the UK: An Assessment
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Robin Alexander writes here about the collateral damage inflicted by the testing-and-accountability regime in the U.K. His analysis will be familiar to American readers. As we all seek to be “world class” and to compete with one another, our governments are imposing a dreary conformity on every school and draining them of the spontaneity and [...]
Philadelphia Insults Its Teachers and Other Employees
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Philadelphia’s Broad-trained Superintendent William Hite offered the district’s employees an insulting contract: pay cuts up to 13%, benefit cuts, longer school days, and no pay increases until 2017. After 2017, any increases would be “performance-based,” dependent on the principal’s recommendation. Seniority would be abolished, as well as any payment for advanced degrees. See here and [...]
More Photos from Save Texas Schools Rally, 2/23/13
garyrubinstein at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
these photos were taken by retired Texas teacher Steve Coyle.
Will the Democratic Party Listen?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
In this terrific article, you can see the beginnings of a popular uprising against the testing obsession and the rush to put public dollars into private hands. In Texas, Republicans are paying attention, even threatening to pull the plug on testing. Rural Republicans seem set to ally with Democrats to stop the voucher movement and [...]
Words of Wisdom about Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
As readers know, I often post comments that I find interesting. Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes I disagree, sometimes they raise questions that are sure to provoke discussion, which is healthy. I like this comment. One of the reasons I like it is that the writer recognizes that American education is not in crisis, [...]
Corporate Bloc Collects $3 Million to Buy L.A. School Board
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Corporate reformers are taking no chances. They have raised more than $3 million to make sure that they control the Los Angeles school board. The school board president Monica Garcia will have $1 million, more or less, to fight off education activist Robert Skeels, who has raised $20,000, more or less. Inexperienced Kate Anderson, the [...]
What Supt. John Kuhn Said at Texas Rally
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
John Kuhn is a superintendent of a small district in Texas. He is also one of the most eloquent champions of students, teachers, and public education. With him on our side, we can’t lose. Why doesn’t the media give him equal time with Michelle Rhee? He actually educates children. He changes lives. He is an [...]
An Open Letter to Educators and Parents in Seattle
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
NBCTs, nationwide: I’m gathering signatures for this letter of support. You name, school, district, city , state to my email at the bottom. Thanks! An Open letter to the Seattle Educational Community Teachers, parents, students, school board members and the administration of Seattle Public Schools owe Garfield High School teachers their gratitude for first speaking [...]
This Florida Teacher Is Running for School Board
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Michael Weston got fed up with being bullied. So he did what he had to do: he is running for the school board. Good luck, Michael! We will be rooting for you. Hi Diane. I am the Hillsborough County, Florida, teacher you featured in your post “Vote for this man for School Board”. Many thanks [...]
Florida: Not Enough Money to Pay for Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Not many people in the U.S. are as enthusiastic about the Common Core as Jeb Bush and his far-right Chiefs for Change. One of his chiefs is Tony Bennett, who lost his superintendency in Indiana because of a popular revolt against the Common Core. No problem, Bennett landed on his feet in Florida (thanks, Jeb!) [...]
Heckuva Job, Reformers!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
There is this motley group of people and organizations in the U.S. who call themselves “reformers.” Few of them are educators. Most are corporate leaders, pundits, think tank thinkers, or rightwing politicos. They say they want to “fix” education but their main goals seem to be to belittle the people who actually work in schools [...]
Illinois: No Class Size Limits for Special Education?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Please don’t say this is school “reform.” The state superintendent of education in Illinois wants to remove class size limits for special education. Time to ask why the richest nation on earth can’t afford to provide a free and appropriate education for children with the greatest needs.
Today! Three Million Page Views!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Today, this blog passed the three million page view marks. That represents the number of times someone has read a post here. The blog started April 24, 2012. Thank you, readers. We will continue to learn from one another. We will continue to stand strong for a high-quality education for all. We will continue to [...]
How Kasich’s Budget for Ohio Hurts All Schools But Especially Poorest
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Governor John Kasich has made clear that he wants to privatize the schools of Ohio as much as possible with vouchers, charters, and online schools. His new budget reflects his attitude toward public education. This report came from Jan Resseger in Cleveland. Jan works tirelessly on behalf of equity and social justice. It is likely [...]
The Fatal Flaw of the Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Since I wrote that I could not support the Common Core, several readers have written to say that I criticized the process of its creation and implementation, not its content. My response to more than one reader was that means and ends both matter. You can’t do the right thing in the wrong way. You [...]
Carol Burris: My Concerns about the Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, explains her concerns about the Common Core. She previously wrote a book about how to implement the standards and now wishes she could retract it. She writes here: Diane, I am coming to the same conclusion regarding the CCSS despite the fact [...]
An Inside-the-DOE View of the NYC CREDO Study
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 days ago
An insider in the New York City Department of Education was disturbed to read the New York Times’ editorial praising the CREDO study of charters in New York City. She knew that the data on the public website of the Department of Education does not support the CREDO analysis. Here is her own analysis, based [...]
How You Can Help the Garfield Teachers
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
The entire teaching staff at Garfield High School in Seattle voted to boycott the MAP test, on grounds that it is a waste of time and resources. The superintendent will soon decide whether to dock their pay as a punishment. Meanwhile, the teachers have created a fund where allies can contribute to help them spread [...]
Why I Cannot Support the Common Core Standards
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
I have thought long and hard about the Common Core standards. I have decided that I cannot support them. In this post, I will explain why. I have long advocated for voluntary national standards, believing that it would be helpful to states and districts to have general guidelines about what students should know and be [...]
Good News from Indiana–MAYBE!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Many people signed a petition calling on the Indiana legislature not to dilute the powers of newly elected state superintendent Glenda Ritz. This just in: “Both of the bills mentioned in this petition, HB1309 and HB1251, died in the legislature! As did a few others that diminished the power and job of the elected Supt. [...]
Forget the Oscars, Here Are the Bunkum Awards
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Each year, the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado presents its annual Bunkum awards. These are awards that acknowledge the very worst think tank reports of the year. Be sure to review previous winners of this not exactly coveted dishonor. Drum roll, please! The “Three’s a Harm” award goes to…(open the envelope)…the [...]
Will Teachers Take Control of Their Profession?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
This is one of the most positive and optimistic posts I have read in a long time. David Cohen, an NBCT teacher in Palo Alto, California, describes models where teacher leadership has worked and is creating new paradigms for teacher improvement and compensation, not tied to test scores. Do yourself a favor and read about [...]
More on the UNO Scandal in Chicago
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Fred Klonsky sheds new light on the UNO scandal in Chicago. How did Juan Rangel get $98 million to build new charter schools? If Chicago schools are overcrowded, why is CPS planning to close 129 schools?
Divest Now from Testing Companies!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
This just in from a reader: Diane, I wrote to you about this before, but this time I have the relevant contact info: http://equalpayforequalwork.blogspot.com/2013/02/tell-teachers-retirement-fund-to-divest.html As the teachers rebellion against standardized testing grows, it’s time to flex our real muscle: tell the teachers’ retirement system to take our money OUT of standardized testing companies. The retirement [...]
The New Teacher Is Surviving. Guess Why?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Readers may recall that I posted a desperate plea from a struggling new teacher. He posted a comment months ago, but I kept pushing it back to make way for pressing news. So I posted it a day ago and just heard from the new teacher. Here is the report: I might be posting this [...]
Pity Our Pitiful, Worried Billionaires
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Remember reading about how the billionaires have tossed nearly $3 million in campaign funds to elect their slate in the Los Angeles school board race? Monica Garcia, their favorite incumbent, will be able to fend off the terrifying challenge from Robert Skeels, who has intimidated her with a bankroll of $17,000. By now, he may [...]
How to Evaluate Dentists
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
This spoof was reprinted in the blog of the Horace Mann League: Improving Dentistry (An Metaphor on Teacher Evaluations) My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don’t forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I have all my teeth, so when I ran into [...]
The Untold Story of NYC’s Charter Success Story
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Last week, the New York City media and the Department of Education exulted in a new CREDO study showing that charter schools outperform public schools in New York City. But, as usual, no one bothered to look behind the curtain. Bruce Baker shows in this post that NYC charter schools enroll significantly fewer students who [...]
Satire: Teacher Reprimanded for Assigning a Book
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
What is happening in education today is so hard to believe, so completely outrageous, that it is hard to write satire. Twenty years ago, suppose you read a story about school officials closing down public schools and handing them over to private entrepreneurs. You would think that was really funny, right? Suppose you read a [...]
Who Is a “Reformer”?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Gary Rubinstein wrestles with the issue of language and rhetoric of reform. Long ago, a reformer was someone who wanted to improve the public schools. Now, a “reformer” advocates closing them and replacing them with privately managed schools. Once upon a time, a reformer was someone who wanted to raise standards for new teachers. Now, [...]
Photos from Save Texas Schools Rally
garyrubinstein at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Diane and Bill Betzen of LULAC, who took these photos Diane receives a T-shirt from students of Houston Independent School District, where she went to school, K-12 Dr. Frederick Haynes exhorts the crowd, “Education, not incarceration!”
Great Account of “Save Texas Schools” Rally
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Read it here! And here. Read how Superintendent John Kuhn said, “There are 5 million kids in Texas waiting for this legislature to keep our forefather’s promises, and to those who want to take away that promise, I’m with the moms and the trustees and local business people who will say what brave Texans have [...]
Georgia’s Tax Credit Program for “Just Us” Folks
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Here is a great article about Georgia’s “tax credit scholarship” program by Myra Blackmon of the Athens Banner-Herald. Blackmon writes: “I’m just sick about all this. My beloved Georgia has gone from being a shining beacon of educational innovation in the 1990s to a “me and my kid first” basis for decision-making and funding. We [...]
What If the Diagnosis Is Based on Junk Science?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
The letter-grading system that is spreading across many states originated in Florida during Jeb Bush’s tenure as governor. His goal was to show how poorly public schools were doing and to blame schools if students had low test scores, thus diverting attention from the social and economic causes of poor performance in school. Red states [...]
Insiders’ Report on History of Chicago Teachers Union
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
SAVE PUBLIC EDUCATION George Schmidt is the quintessential fiery fighter for workers and teachers rights. His analysis oh how the CTU got to where it is today and the challenges it faces in the coming months is below: George Schmidt by George Schmidt, Chicago Teachers Union/ Substance News http://www.substancenews.net/ One of the most important things [...]
Bridgeport Parents Call for Vallas’s Ouster
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
A report from Bridgeport, Connecticut: Connecticut Working Families Party 30 Arbor Street, Suite 210, Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 523-1699 http://www.connecticutworkingfamilies.org For an event occurring on February 25th, 2013, 4 pm Advisory – Parents Call on Bridgeport Board of Education not to renew Paul Vallas’ Contract as Superintendent For more information contact Taylor Leake at (860) [...]
Great News! Investigative Reporting Is Still Alive!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Reporter Colin Woodard’s brilliant exposé of the profitable ties between Jeb Bush, Maine’s Governor Paul LePage, and the online industry won the prestigious George Polk award for reporting in 2012. If you have not read it, do so now. You will be an informed citizen. More about this great journalist: Colin Woodard, an award-winning author [...]
How Pearson’s Connections Academy Cheated a Blind Student
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Online charter schools are, with few exceptions a sham. They waste taxpayer dollars and, worse, they waste students’ lives. Here is an especially egregious example. Pearson’s Connections Academy graduated a blind student who could neither read or write. they took the state’s money, but the young woman did not get an education nor did she [...]
Are Your Students Tested to Despair?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
If you answered yes, click on this website that is fighting the testing madness in the schools. Share your stories, and you can even order a bumper sticker. Encourage other teachers and parents to let the world know they their children are tested to despair.
Proof: Kindergarten Teachers Know How to Fix the Schools
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
This is a letter from a kindergarten teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada, to her state legislators. Nevada has the lowest graduation rate in the nation, lower even than the District of Columbia. As she explains in her post, the schools of Las Vegas are underfunded, and the needs of the children are huge. Please read [...]
Great Rally for Texas Schools in Austin!
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in a wonderful rally for “Save Texas Schools” in Austin. It was a beautiful, clear, crisp spring day, and a great day to be outdoors with thousands of students, parents, and educators. The city closed the main street leading to the Capitol, and the marchers stepped cheerfully along [...]
Goliath Collects Millions in Los Angeles Race
garyrubinstein at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Monica Garcia is president of the Los Angeles school board and Superintendent John Deasy ‘s strong supporter in Los Angeles. She supports charter schools and evaluating teachers by test scores. Los Angeles has more charters than any other city in the nation. They have little supervision. They get public money to do as they please [...]
Parent: Public Schools Worked for My Children
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
A reader posted this comment: My children did go to the local public school. The percentage of Title I students has grown at the neighborhood school. We are still living in the same house since 1977. My neighborhood was once considered middle class. Not now. So, no I did not send my kids to charters [...]
Duncan Press Secretary Working for Rupert Murdoch
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Justin Hamilton, who recently stepped down as Arne Duncan’s press secretary, has accepted an executive position at Rupert Murdoch’s Amplify. This division, headed by Joel Klein, sells technology to the schools. This is funny, because last May I had a Twitter debate with Justin about the role of entrepreneurs in education. I didn’t see much [...]
If This Doesn’t Break Your Heart, Nothing Will
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Nancy Flanagan tells the story of what happened to Detroit. Once it was a vibrant city with a thriving automobile industry, once its schools were the envy of urban education, now it is a wasteland, a symbol of urban decline. Corporate-style reformers like to blame the low test scores and dysfunction of the schools on [...]
Georgia: Why Are We Wasting Money on More Testing?
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Michael Moore, a literacy professor in Georgia, thinks that the state has more tests than it needs already. Where will it get the money for the new Common Core assessments. Moore quotes Peter DeWitt on this blog to make his point. He writes: “Peter Dewitt, an elementary principal writing in Diane Ravitch’s blog, notes that [...]
The Great Texas Mirage (er, “Miracle”) Debunked
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Jason Stanford is an Austin-based writer who has come to understand the sham of the Texas accountability system. He knows that there is an old tradition in Texas called “brags.” Back in 2000, a candidate for the presidency named George W. Bush bragged about the “Texas miracle.” He said that testing every child every year [...]
Why the Parent Trigger is an Empty Promise
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 week ago
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform has published an informative review of the controversy over the so-called parent trigger law. It explains the genesis of the idea, how it evolved, who is behind it, where it has been adopted, and why it offers meager prospects for either parent empowerment or school improvement. The brief includes [...]
A Parent at Eastside Memorial in Austin Tells What Happened
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 week ago
This just in, as I prepare to join a march and rally in Austin with “Save Texas Schools.” Be it noted that the superintendent in Austin, a high-performing district on NAEP, is an alum of the unaccredited Broad Superintendent Academy, which allegedly teaches management skills. The board majority shifted against her 5-4 after the last [...]
Indiana Senate Halts Implentation of Common Core
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 week ago
The Indiana State Senate voted to halt implementation of the Common Core standards until there had been hearings across the state. The action was brought about by the fervent opposition of two angry moms.
Sign the National Resolution Against High-Stakes Testing
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 week ago
Join thousands of others to say no to rewards and punishments tied to test scores: http://timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution/
Rothstein: Cannot Close Achievement Gap without Ending Segregation
dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 week ago
Richard Rothstein spoke to the AASA and told them that “reformers” like Joel Klein were wrong in claiming that high expectations and better teachers would close the achievement gap. Here is a summary of his presentation: Rothstein: Segregation Practices Block Achievement Gains by Sasha Pudelski Richard Rothstein gave a powerful lecture Thursday at the Federal [...]