Diane Ravitch questions Obama education approach
Though President Barack Obama's administration has recently succeeded in convincing states such as New York to allow more charter schools and expand the use of tests, many educators on Long Island and elsewhere continue to question these approaches.
Last night, one leading critic, Diane Ravitch, a New York University professor and best-selling author, came to Woodbury to make a forceful argument against Obama's approach. Ravitch spoke before 260 school-board trustees and others at a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.
"If you think 'No Child Left Behind' caused a testing frenzy, watch what happens when they start basing teachers' ratings on tests," Ravitch said in a pre-dinner interview. "We're doubling down on reading and math [tests]. Will this make education better? No, it will make it narrower."
On Long Island, as elsewhere, Ravitch is finding a receptive audience among educators. Jay L.T. Breakstone of Bellmore, president of the regional school-boards group, said Tuesday many members are troubled by the charter-school movement, not only because it takes tax revenues away from traditional schools, but also because it separates students.
"It's not true public education, because all the kids in the same town don't go to school together," Breakstone said.
Last week, Albany lawmakers voted to expand the number of charter schools from 200 to 460 statewide, and to require school officials to use students' test scores as part of their annual evaluations of teachers' job performance.
Both moves have been pushed by officials in the Obama administration, which says this will boost the state's chances of winning $300 million to $700 million in "Race to the Top" school grants. Those officials also contend such moves will make teachers more accountable for what students learn, and give parents greater choices of schools for their children.
Ravitch is deeply skeptical. She explains why in dozens of speeches and in her latest book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System." Ravitch gets as much as $15,000 for her speeches, but declined to say how much she was paid for the Woodbury appearance.
A former federal education official in the first Bush administration, Ravitch initially supported the "No Child Left Behind" testing established by the second Bush administration but later changed her mind.
On the use of test scores to rate teachers, Ravitch now questions whether tests produced by New York and other states are accurate measures of achievement. She notes while scores have soared on state tests, results have remained essentially flat on federal tests - suggesting state results are inflated.
As for charter-school expansion, Ravitch points to research indicating little difference, on average, in achievements of students enrolled in such schools, as compared to students enrolled in traditional schools.
