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Monday, October 10, 2011

Diane Ravitch to Offer Keynote Address at First-Ever Bronx Education Summit

William Paterson University - News:


William Paterson University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series Features Leading Educator Diane Ravitch on October 13

One of the nation's leading authorities on American education history and policy, Ravitch will speak about issues related to test-based accountability and school choice
Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch, one of the nation’s leading authorities on American education history and policy, will discuss issues related to test-based accountability and school choice on Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 7 p.m. as part of the 32nd season of the Distinguished Lecturer Series at William Paterson University in Wayne.
Tickets are $10 for the general public; $5 for William Paterson alumni, faculty and staff; and free for William Paterson students with a valid ID. To purchase tickets, please call the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. or purchase online at www.wpunj.edu/dls. The lecture will take place in Shea Center on the campus in Wayne; please allow ample time for parking.
The 2011 recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award presented for the use of social

Today, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced that Dr. Diane Ravitch, widely considered to be the preeminent education expert in the United States, will offer the keynote address at the first-ever “Bronx Education Summit: From Cradle to Career,” to be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011, at Lehman College.
Dr. Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Her most recent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (2010), is a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller.
“The goal of our education summit is to bring together the best minds in education, from all sides of the issues, to put forward a clear vision for the future of education in the Bronx. With that in mind, we are extremely grateful that none other than Diane Ravitch, one of the most important voices in the national debate on education, is coming to the Bronx to participate in this historic event,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
The topic of Dr. Ravitch’s address will be "Improving Education for 



Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch
Education historian & policy analyst

"Will School Reform Improve the Schools?" 
Humanities Lecture Series

Tue., Oct. 18, 2011, 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Supported by the Sosland Foundation of Kansas City. Co-sponsored by Kansas Public Radio.
Location: Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
Diane Ravitch is a policy analyst and historian of education whose highly respected work in education policy at the federal level endured through the presidencies of George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.  Today, Ravitch is one of our most vocal supporters of public education, launching trenchant critiques of the fallout from No Child Left Behind and Obama's Race to the Top program. Her most recent publication, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education(2010) advocates strongly for supporting teachers, rather than penalizing them for being unable to achieve "draconian" testing standards.
Ravitch is deeply suspicious of school reform movements in general.  She finds the concept of "teacher accountability" contentious, noting that when it is tied exclusively to test results, teachers are forced to prepare students for testing, rather than critical thinking.  Neither are charter schools the panacea that everyone imagines them to be, she argues.  Their success rests, at least in part, on their ability to siphon off the most