A new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to American Schools, by Diane Ravitch claims that the real threat to America’s schools is not low test scores, but the attempt to privatize the nation’s educational institutions. Ravitch, a scholar of education history and a former advocate of educational standards and high-stakes testing, reversed her position years ago. She now promotes the view that high-stakes testing and market forces are doing more harm to public education than good. In her latest book, Ravitch says that real reform must address poverty, equity, and opportunity. She discredits the claims that public education is in decline and says that the charge that there is a crisis in education misleads the public. Research, she says, fails to justify calling for merit pay, linking teacher evaluations to test scores, creating charter schools, promoting Teach for America, advocating for vouchers, or supporting school closings. Ravitch calls for prenatal care as a foundation for education, stresses the need for early childhood education (particularly for low-income students), and says the focus of education should be shifted to the “basics” and a commitment to a broad and rich curriculum.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 21:38:11 +0000
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