An Interview in San Francisco
Michael Krasny is one of the best book interviewers in the nation. I love to appear on his show because he asks good questions. And that brings out the best in me. This reader thinks you should listen: “This might not be news to Diane’s readers, but I wanted to mention that her September 30 interview on KQED’s Forum with Michael Krasny is well worth a listen. You can find it on the NPR smart phone
David Sirota: Who Does Obamacare Benefit? What Is the Fight About?
David Sirota says that the big winners under Obamacare are the big insurance companies. Read this fast, as it will be online only for 20 hours, then goes behind a paywall. Or copy it and save it. Here is a sample from one of our great investigative journalists: “In this made-for-TV cartoon series, the battle over the new law has been depicted as a fight between competing small guys. Bam! Democra
Matthew Di Carlo Deciphers Latest DC Test Scores
Given that D.C. has become a Petri dish for Rhee-style reform, every test score release is treated as earth-shattering. Matthew Di Carlo of the Shanker Institute says not so fast. Reporting on test scores is far more complicated than it seems, and the public never understands that the setting of the cut scores is a decision made by humans, not a matter of scientific weights and measures. He wri
The Right-Wing Agenda of MinnCAN
Here is a summary of a recent mayoral forum in Minneapolis, sponsored by MinnCAN. MinnCAN is a spinoff of ConnCAN and 50CAN, organizations that promote school choice and look askance at public education. To be fair, they are quite happy to take public dollars, but to run their schools with rules that are very different from those that govern public schools, which are not allowed to pick their stud
A Good Book about the Attacks on Teachers
Ken K. Kumashiro’s Bad Teacher! How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture should be on your reading list. He has written a thoughtful critique of the current fad in which it is fashionable to blame teachers for the ills of society and for low test scores and student misbehavior. The current fad eliminates any accountability for those who make the laws, write the regulations, decide the poli
Accountable Talk Blogger Reviews “Reign of Error”
Accountable Talk, a popular education blogger, here reviews Reign of Error. He or she writes: The book is a thorough excoriation of the reform movement. Starting with who the major players are and how they stand to benefit financially from their “reforms”, Ms. Ravitch unravels, one by one, all the myths spun by the corporate raiders looking to cash in on public education dollars. She lays bare the
EduShyster: Adell Cothorne Speaks!
Adell Cothorne is the brave principal in Washington, D.C., who reported to her headquarters that she saw cheating going on. She was featured on a PBS Frontline special about the uncertain legacy of Michelle Rhee. What happened after she reported cheating by a group of staff? Nothing. Nothing except she became persona non grata for blowing the whistle. For a long time, her lawyer told her to remain
Louisiana Educator Reviews “Reign of Error”
Louisiana Educator is a blog written by one of that state’s finest educators, now retired, Mike Deshotels. He reviews Reign of Error here. It is hard to pick a single excerpt from his review because every paragraph is compelling. (I tried but was not very successful.) Deshotels writes: In this, her latest meticulously researched book, Ravitch describes the myths upon which the current corporate re
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Why VAM Is a ShamAudrey Amrein-Beardsley of Arizona State University is one of the nation’s leading authorities on teacher evaluation. She has the advantage of having taught middle school math for several years. She understands better than almost any other researcher just how flawed value-added measurement is. Next year, her book