The Answer Sheet: Diane Ravitch


Posted at 12:33 PM ET, 03/08/2013

Ravitch forms advocacy group to counter Rhee and other school reformers

By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch explains why she she has formed a new advocacy group to fight corporate-based school reform and organizations -- like Michelle Rhee's -- that support it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:33 PM ET, 03/08/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Diane Ravitch, Q & A With Ravitch, School Reform

Posted at 03:53 PM ET, 10/29/2012

Why Obama’s leading education critic will vote for him

By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch has savaged President Obama's education policies for years, saying they have harmed public schools. But here's why she has decided to vote for him anyway.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:53 PM ET, 10/29/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Decision, Diane Ravitch, Election, School Reform

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011

The Diane Ravitch myth

By Valerie Strauss
Anybody reading much of the commentary written on education policy could be forgiven for thinking that education historian Diane Ravitch is somehow the Wizardess of Ed, the woman behind the curtain secretly pulling the strings.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch | Tags:  arne duncan, bill gates, charter schools, colbert report, diane ravitch, jon stewart, president obama, school reform, whitney tilson

Posted at 12:47 PM ET, 03/01/2011

Jon Stewart's hysterical defense of teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Jon Stewart (finally) does a hysterical bit about the preposterous attacks on the nation’s public school teachers, who have been accused by school “reformers” of being lazy, greedy and lousy at their jobs.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:47 PM ET, 03/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Laugh and cry, Teachers | Tags:  diane ravitch, jon stewart, school reform, the daily show, wisconsin protests, wisconsin teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/01/2011

Ravitch: 'A moment of national insanity'
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes: "The reality on the ground suggests that the corporate reform movement ... will set American education back, by how many years or decades is anyone's guess."

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 03/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Education Secretary Duncan, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  arne duncan, diane ravitch, gates foundation, president obama, president obama and school reform, race to the top, school reform, teachers

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 01/25/2011

Why Oscar snubbed ‘Superman’ -- deservedly so
By Valerie Strauss
The documentarians get it: “Waiting for Superman” was not a good/accurate enough documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 AM ET, 01/25/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform | Tags:  academy award nominations, academy awards, davis guggenheim, diane ravitch, documentaries, feature documentaries, films that were snubbed, inside job, michelle rhee, movies snubbed, oscar nominations, oscar snubs, oscars, randi weingarten, superman, waiting for superman

Posted at 02:00 PM ET, 01/18/2011

Ravitch: The pitfalls of putting economists in charge of education
By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch writes, "It is astonishing to realize the extent to which education debates are now framed and dominated by economists, not by educators or sociologists or cognitive psychologists or anyone else who actually spends time in classrooms."

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:00 PM ET, 01/18/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  diane ravitch, gates foundation, gates-funded project, mike rose, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, value-added, value-added measures

Posted at 01:00 PM ET, 01/11/2011

Ravitch: The chutzpah of rewriting Mark Twain (and how it relates to "The Wire")
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes about the latest effort to cleanse Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" of hurtful words.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:00 PM ET, 01/11/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  censorship, classic literature, diane ravitch, huck fin, huckleberry fin, the wire, william shakespeare, writing mark twain

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/28/2010

Ravitch takes stock of education in 2010
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch looks back at the education world of 2010.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  diane ravitch, education policy, teacher assessment, teachers

Posted at 04:43 PM ET, 12/14/2010

How Shanghai topped PISA rankings -- and why it's not big news in China
By Valerie Strauss
Q) How did Shanghai students, participating in a high-profile international exam for the first time, able to land at the top of the math, reading and science rankings? A) An obsession with test taking, to the exclusion of a lot of other things. Diane Ravitch and Yong Zhao explain.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:43 PM ET, 12/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Standardized Tests | Tags:  Yong Zhao, diane ravitch, finland and pisa, international test comparisons, international test rankings, international test scores, pisa, pisa rankings, pisa results, shanghai and pisa, shanghai students, u.s. performance on international tests, u.s. performance on pisa

Posted at 11:39 AM ET, 12/07/2010

Ravitch to Gates: Let's talk
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch invites Bill Gates to a public discussion on education reform, and explains why public schools must remain public.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:39 AM ET, 12/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  bill gates, checker finn, diane ravitch, education policy, federal control of schools, local control of schools, obama and school reform, republicans in congress, school reform, school reform policies, wall street journal

Posted at 10:11 AM ET, 12/04/2010

Meier: Partisan mindsets and teacher collegiality
By Valerie Strauss
Veteran educator Deborah Meier writes about partisan mindset in education, and she asks whether there are institutions and publications today that are built around deep respect for the intelligence and inventiveness of teachers -- and kids.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:11 AM ET, 12/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  collaboration, deb meier, deborah meier, diane ravitch, teach for america, teachers, teachers and collaboration

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/30/2010

Ravitch answers Gates
By Valerie Strauss
Bill Gates, in an article by Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, poses some questions to education historian Diane Ravitch, who Alter inexplicably calls the Microsoft founder's "chief adversary." Here she answers Gates' questions.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 11/30/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  bill gates, charter schools, diane ravitch, jonathan alter, microsoft, newsweek, school reform, teachers

Posted at 01:16 PM ET, 11/21/2010

Teacher runs into power of Teach for America
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher writes about difficulty finding a job in an urban school district because of choosing traditional training rather than Teach for America or a similar alternative program.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:16 PM ET, 11/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  diane ravitch, teach for america, teacher training, teachers, wendy kopp

Posted at 09:04 AM ET, 11/17/2010

What Ravitch told KIPP and Teach for America

By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch gave a speech at Rice University about school reform in which she directly challenged officials from Teach for America and the Knowledge Is Power Program who were present -- the very people who had invited her.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:04 AM ET, 11/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  arne duncan, charter schools, diane ravitch, finland, finland education, kipp, knowledge is power program, nclb, no child left behind, obama school reform, president obama, rice university, secretary duncan, teach for america, teachers, tfa

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 11/08/2010

A public school teacher’s distress

By Valerie Strauss
A school teacher writes a letter about why she fears for the future of public education.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 11/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  charter schools, diane ravitch, no child left behind, school reform, tax levy, taxes, teachers, toldeo schools

Posted at 01:57 PM ET, 11/04/2010

Margaret Spellings: The last NCLB defender?
By Valerie Strauss
It's hard to find strong defenders of No Child Left Behind these days, except, perhaps, for Margaret Spellings.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:57 PM ET, 11/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  No Child Left Behind | Tags:  arne duncan, diane ravitch, education secretary arne duncan, jay mathews, margaret spellings, nclb, no child left behind, vincent gray

Posted at 11:19 AM ET, 11/04/2010

Some good news for California teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Public schools teachers in California got some good news from the midterm elections: Their candidate won in the race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction is still good news.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:19 AM ET, 11/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  california, california teachers, cft, charter schools, dfer, diane ravitch, gloria romero, state superintendent, tom torlakson

Posted at 03:30 PM ET, 11/02/2010

What Michelle Rhee did in D.C.: Point by point
By Valerie Strauss
Here's a final critique of Michelle Rhee's legacy as chancellor of D.C. public schools, point by point, by a former D.C. schools student and teacher.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:30 PM ET, 11/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, diane ravitch, michelle rhee, naep, rhee's legacy, standardized tests

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 10/29/2010

Waiting for sanity in education reform
By Valerie Strauss
This fall brought a lot of noise in the education world: A movie, a manifesto and a mayoral election. Now comes news Now comes the news that, in light of whatever is going to happen on Nov. 2nd, the Obama administration is looking for ways to work with the next Congress and is targeting No Child Left Behind to reauthorize. George Wood says: "Yikes."

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 AM ET, 10/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  diane ravitch, george wood, jon stewart, jon stewart rally, mike rose, no child left behind, restore sanity, sanity rally, school reform, stephen colbert, stewart colbert, waiitng for superman

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 10/27/2010

Ravitch on how wrong 'Superman' really is
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch critiques the most basic things that Davis Guggenheim got wrong in 'Waiting for Superman.'

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:30 AM ET, 10/27/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Charter schools, Charter schools, Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags:  charter schools, davis guggenheim, diane ravitch, naep, proficient, standardized tests, waiting for superman

Posted at 10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010

The rich irony in Virginia’s history textbook error
By Valerie Strauss
There is rich historic irony in the news that a textbook given to Virginia’s fourth graders wrongly claims that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War: The process by which textbooks are adopted by states began because Southern states after the war did not want their children to read the North’s version of the conflict.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Curriculum, Curriculum, Curriculum | Tags:  black confederates, civil war, confederate soldiers, diane ravitch, did blacks fight for the south, history textbooks, jay mathews, textbook adoption, textbooks, the confederacy, virginia textbook, virginia textbooks

Posted at 12:02 PM ET, 10/13/2010

Ravitch: Charters are a lead bullet
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes: "Charters are not a silver bullet. They are a lead bullet. Their target is American public education.""

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:02 PM ET, 10/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  CREDO, broad roundation, charter schools, diane ravitch, icef, richard riordan, ross global, ross global academy

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 10/06/2010

Ravitch: Why teachers should never be rated by test scores
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes: "...Value-added assessment should not be used at all. Never. It has a wide margin of error. It is unstable. A teacher who is highly effective one year may get a different rating the next year depending on which students are assigned to his or her class. Ratings may differ if the tests differ. To the extent it is used, it will narrow the curriculum and promote teaching to tests. Teachers will be mislabeled and stigmatized. Many factors that influence student scores will not be counted at all."

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 10/06/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  diane ravitch, how to assess teache, l.a. times, l.a. times database, los angeles times, ravitch book, rigoberto ruelas, school reform, teacher and suicide, teacher assessment, teacher commits suicide, teacher database, teacher evaluation, teachers, test scores, value added

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010

Book blasts research base for Obama reform plan
By Valerie Strauss
A new book analyzes the research base for President Obama's blueprint for education reform and finds that it is, at best, very weak.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Research, Research | Tags:  diane ravitch, education research, esea, no child left behind, obama blueprint, obama schools, reform blueprint, research, research summary, school reform, welner

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/29/2010

Ravitch: The long, failed history of merit pay and how the Ed Department ignores it
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes: "Few people realize that merit pay schemes have been tried again and again since the 1920s. Belief in them waxes and wanes, but the results have never been robust." And a day after a big study was released showing that performance pay made no difference, the Education Department handed out millions of dollars for the development of merit pay programs.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 09/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  $1.2 billion and merit pay, diane ravitch, education department and merit pay, merit pay, merit pay study, performance pay, ravitch book, study on performance pay, vanderbilt study

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 09/24/2010

Meier: White knights and false villains in education
By Valerie Strauss
Prominent education reformer Deborah Meier writes: "We're now entering the age when "tough love" is the plot when it comes to teachers and parents. Only it's they who we need to be tough on. It's all those smart young people who went into teaching in the late 1960s and '70s (some to avoid the draft) with their permissive spoiled-brat histories who become the villains of the new wave of school-based romances. Neither tough-love imposed by elite Ivy League grads nor the generous-love imposed by elite draft-dodgers—forgive the unfair labels—will do."

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 09/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Deborah Meier, Deborah Meier, Deborah Meier | Tags:  deb meier, deborah meier, diane ravitch, ivy league, school reform, school reformers, tough love, waiting for superman

Posted at 01:30 PM ET, 09/23/2010

Ravitch: Why Fenty, Rhee really lost
By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch, writing about Mayor Adrian Fenty's loss, says: "Journalists attributed Fenty’s loss to the power of the teachers’ union, but such an explanation implies that black voters, even in the privacy of the voting booth, lack the capacity to make an informed choice. When the Tea Party wins a race, journalists don’t write about who controlled their vote, but about a voter revolt; they acknowledge that those who turned out to vote had made a conscious decision."

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:30 PM ET, 09/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  D.C. schools, Diane Ravitch, adrian fenty, bill perkins, democrats for education reform, dfer, fenty loses, gray rhee, gray rhee summit, michelle rhee, school reform, tea party, teacher unions, vincent gray

Posted at 12:34 PM ET, 09/19/2010

Ravitch: Why civil rights groups oppose the Obama agenda
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch looks at the Obama administration's insistence on embracing competition in federal education funding and more.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:34 PM ET, 09/19/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  arne duncan, bridging differences, civil rights groups, civil rights report, diane ravitch, equity in education, guest bloggers, no child left behind, race to the top

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/08/2010

Ravitch: Welcome back to school "reform"
By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch predicts that the 2010-11 school year will be another year in which "teachers and principals will be blamed and punished" unless their students' test scores go "up and up," more principals will be fired and more schools will be closed. And more.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 09/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  diane ravitch, education secretary duncan, guest bloggers, no child left behind, obama and blueprint, obama and school reform, race to the top, race to the top winners, rttt winners, the death and life of the great american school system, top ooool reboamael

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/03/2010

The decade’s best education books?
By Valerie Strauss
The magazine Education Next's poll of best education books of the past decade is showing some ironic results.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 09/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags:  best education books, best education books of the decade, daniel willingham, diane ravitch, ed next's poll of books, education next, education next's poll, linda darling-hammong, poll of education books, the death and life of the great american school system, why don't students like school?

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/04/2010

Ravitch: Mayoral control means zero accountability
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch writes about how mayoral control in New York City -- and other cities -- has hardly proven to be the panacea for urban ills that its advocates once contended.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 08/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags:  bloomberg and schools, diane ravitch, klein and schools, mayoral control, new york city schools, new york city test scores, new york state test results, ny test scores

Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010

Ravitch on teachers and her critics
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch brings down the house at a teachers convention and answers her critics.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  charter schools and research, death and life of great american school system, diane ravitch, ed week and ravitch, national education association and convention, nea convention, ravitch and nea, ravitch and teachers, ravitch and video, teachers convention

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/06/2010

Ravitch's 'modest' vision for school reform
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch answers her critics and provides a "modest" vision for school reform.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/06/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch | Tags:  bridging differences, death and life of great american school system, diane ravitch, ford foundation, michael edwards and small change, new york city public school parents blog, ravitch and new book, ravitch's book, stphen koss

Posted at 05:30 AM ET, 06/22/2010

Ravitch to Obama: 'Change course before it is too late"
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch talks about meeting thousands of teachers and parents who are "unhappy, frustrated and demoralized" at the Obama administration's education policies. And she explains what she would tell President Obama if he gave her the chance.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:30 AM ET, 06/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  arne duncan, death and life of the great american school system, diane ravitch, diane ravitch's book, no child left behind, obama blueprint for reform, race to the top, teachers, teachers unions and reform

Posted at 05:30 AM ET, 06/20/2010

Teacher: 'Worst year in the classroom' in decades
By Valerie Strauss
A public school teacher describes the conditions under which he is being forced to teach.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:30 AM ET, 06/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  board certified teacher, diane ravitch, race to the top, teachers

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 06/16/2010

Ravitch: 'Are we in an era of National Stupidity?'
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch looks at the accumulating evidence revealing how our "accountability policies are a great fraud," and asks: "Are we in an era of National Stupidity or National Insanity?"

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 06/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch, accountability and nclb, accountability movement, accountability policies, bridging differences, diane ravitch and deborah meier, holding teachers accountability, how to hold teachers accountable, narrowing the curriculum, president obama and education bluerpint, president obama and school reform, teachers and merit pay

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 05/26/2010

Ravitch's 10 reasons to 'no' to Race to the Top
By Valerie Strauss
Education historian Diane Ravitch lists her top 10 reasons for why states should say "no" to Education Secretary Arne Duncan and refuse to participate in Race to the Top.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:30 AM ET, 05/26/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  arne duncan, bridging differences, diane ravitch, no child left behind, race to the top, ravitch and race to the top

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 04/24/2010

Straight talk about charter schools
By Valerie Strauss
A hearing held in New York City this week about sounded more like a brawl than the information-gathering session it was intended to be. Read some of the testimony given by education historian Diane Ravitch, which was received by charter advocates as heresy.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:00 AM ET, 04/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Charter schools | Tags:  Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch, Ravitch and book, bill perkins and charters, charter schools, charter schools and hearing, new york city charter schools

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/15/2010

When school reform made teachers sick -- literally

By Valerie Strauss
There is a story in Diane Ravitch’s new book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” that policymakers should be forced to read whenever they are imposing yet another school reform plan on a beleaguered school district. It is about school reform implemented so forefully that teachers got sick. Not sick and tired of being told what to do by people who had never been in front of a classroom, but physically ill.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Diane Ravitch, San Diego school reform, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, school reform

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 04/10/2010

Diane Ravitch’s letter to Florida lawmakers

By Valerie Strauss
Here is a letter that education historian Diane Ravitch wrote to Florida lawmakers putting into historical context some of the controversial issues in legislation now on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist that would change public education in the state. She explains why she thinks that public education would be harmed if the legislation becomes law.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 04/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  Crist and teachers and bill, Crist and veto, Diane Ravitch, Florida, Florida and teachers, Florida teacher tenure bill, Gov. Charlie Crist, Gov. Crist, House Bill 7189, Senate Bill 6, performance pay for teachers, standardized tests, teacher tenure bill, teachers, teachers and job security, teachers and performance pay

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 03/23/2010

Ravitch's NCLB book an unexpected best seller
By Valerie Strauss
Education policy books aren't usually best sellers, but Diane Ravitch's new "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," has become so popular that many bookstores are sold out.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 03/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags:  Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch, President Obama

Posted at 04:22 PM ET, 01/18/2010

More to education than data
By Valerie Strauss
Here's Diane Ravitch's response to a post I did last week about Teach for America. In that post, I had noted that “Teach For America” founder Wendy Kopp went to Capitol Hill to talk new research on effective teachers. Using test score data, the nonprofit organization--which recruits college graduates to teach in low-income schools for two years--has determined that effective teachers are those that employ the same strategies as successful leaders in any field. Read what Ravitch thinks of the findings.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:22 PM ET, 01/18/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests | Tags:  Diane Ravitch, NCLB, Teach For America