Laura Chapman: McKinsey’s Education “Expert” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laura Chapman: McKinsey’s Education “Expert” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laura Chapman: McKinsey’s Education “Expert”

A few days ago, I posted Nancy Bailey’s critique of McKinsey & Company’s report claiming that it’s time for schools to get tough on students. As Bailey points out, when I worked in the Department of Education, the White House was crawling with McKinsey consultants, smart young things who knew everything about education but were seldom old enough to have been in the classroom for long.

Our faithful reader and meticulous researcher Laura Chapman (a retired arts educator) responded to Nancy’s post as follows, describing the mastermind of the McKinsey report:

Nancy Bailey probably knows that the author of the McKinsey report, Jimmy Sarakatsannis jumped straight to McKinsey as an expert in everything about K-12 and teacher education from his job as a science teacher for CONTINUE READING: Laura Chapman: McKinsey’s Education “Expert” | Diane Ravitch's blog

NANCY BAILEY: McKinsey & Company Uses Falling Behind Talk to Ramp Up School Toughness

McKinsey & Company Uses Falling Behind Talk to Ramp Up School Toughness

McKinsey & Company Uses Falling Behind Talk to Ramp Up School Toughness

For years McKinsey & Company has had a premier seat at the school reform table for the U.S., England, and worldwide, despite faulty reporting. Because of Covid-19, plans are being put in place to get tougher on students to make up for lost learning time. They use terms like high impact and high dosage tutoring. These plans often echo how students must learn for the future economy. But such pressure, after a year like no other, could be devastating to children.

The narrative goes like this: poor children of color from Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities have fallen behind in school due to Covid-19, so the country needs to ramp up instruction.

McKinsey & Company’s report “COVID-19 and learning loss—disparities grow and students need help,” outlines their ideas of equity and what they think should be done with students falling behind. They partnered with Chiefs for Change for the study.

They state:

Given the scope of learning loss so far and the limitations of remote learning, students CONTINUE READING: McKinsey & Company Uses Falling Behind Talk to Ramp Up School Toughness