A Conversation With Diane Ravitch & Clarification On Opt Out
Since myself and several other education bloggers came out with articles yesterday pushing for parents to opt out of more than just standardized assessments, we are being questioned by several in the fight against corporate education reform and the privatization of public schools. Many of us found that social media groups where we regularly post articles were censoring us by not posting our articles. This led to some anger and hostility. Some felt we were undermining their own group goals with opt out. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those of us who posted yesterday have been sounding the alarm about the ed tech invasion taking place in our schools even before the Every Student Succeeds Act bill was fully seen by everyone. We believe the once a year assessments will be replaced by constant “stealth” assessments in a competency-based education set up by a constant digital learning environment. We also believe that the ability to opt out will not be so easy when this happens. Which is why we want to stop this from happening in the first place. Sometimes you have to draw people into a conversation. This was our attempt and it appears it is working.
As part of my article yesterday, I wrote about Diane Ravitch’s role in all this and how some felt she wasn’t speaking loud enough about these issues. Last night into this morning, I had a very long exchange with Diane on her blog about this. I want to share this conversation so that some who were misled about the intentions of my article understand where it was coming from. It began with a comment from someone called “Digital Skeptic” (which is not me nor do I know who it is). There is one part of the conversation that is bolded for emphasis as I feel it was the most important part of it. The full story behind where all this came from and where the actual exchange took place can be seen here: BIG NEWS! DISCOVERY! One (1) Funder That Supports Public Schools!
Digital Skeptic, 9/14/16, 10:43am:
Well, you need to get up to speed on digital badging and learning eco-systems ASAP then. Maybe set up a google alert for “personalized learning?” That would give you a lot of material to start with. Also Knowledgeworks is one of the main promoters of this new way of looking at “education.”
Kevin Ohlandt, 9/15/16, 6:43pm:
Why is Diane refusing to answer questions about digital badging? She addresses A Conversation With Diane Ravitch & Clarification On Opt Out – Exceptional Delaware: