Education scholar Diane Ravitch critiques charters, standardized tests in Philly
by thenotebook on Sep 18 2013 Posted in Latest news
by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks
Diane Ravitch, a New York University education professor, was once a passionate champion of charter schools and standardized testing. She has since done a 180-degree turn, becoming a nationally known critic of pro-competition reform.
Ravitch spoke at Philadelphia's Free Library Tuesday night about her new book, "Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools."
The book attempts to bust the "myth" that America's public school system is in decline. Overall, Ravitch said the country's schools have never been better, with historically low dropout rates and historically high test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
In U.S. cities where schools are struggling, she said, poverty and segregation are the root causes.
Ravitch said the public has been "sold a bill of goods," including the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the Obama administration's Race to the Top initiative, and other policies that have attempted to improve schools through the "overuse" of test scores, she said.
The crowd at the Free Library, which included many teachers, enthusiastically applauded Ravitch several times.
Her characteristically blunt lines were especially popular, such as, "This idea that you can find teachers who are bad based on the test scores of their students, this is a very stupid idea." They also cheered, "Pennsylvania is the state that has more cyber charters than any other state in the country. They are a sham. They are a scam!"
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Notes from the news, Sept. 18
Pew poll: Most Philly residents give public schools poor grade. NewsWorks New poll: Phila. residents give schools bad grades. Inquirer Residents give school district bad grades in Pew poll. Daily News Philly blames Corbett and Nutter, not teachers, for schools crisis. City Paper Study Says Philadelphians Think Poorly of its Public Schools. NBC 10 A smooth opening or slow-brewing disaster? Notebook