The Death and Life of the Great American School System : How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education

A passionate plea to preserve and renew public education, The Death and Life of the Great American School System is a radical change of heart from one of America’s best-known education experts. Diane Ravitch—former assistant secretary of education and a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum—examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch critiques today’s most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and the feckless multiplication of charter schools. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, Ravitch makes the case that public education today is in peril. Ravitch includes clear prescriptions for improving America’s schools: leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmen devise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be learning expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schools pay teachers a fair wage for their work, not “merit pay” based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scores encourage family involvement in education from an early age The Death and Life of the Great American School System is more than just an analysis of the state of play of the American education system. It is a must-read for any stakeholder in the future of American schooling. EDITORIAL REVIEW: A passionate plea to preserve and renew public education, *The Death and Life of the Great American School System* is a radical change of heart from one of America’s best-known education experts. Diane Ravitch—former assistant secretary of education and a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum—examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch critiques today’s most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and the feckless multiplication of charter schools. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, Ravitch makes the case that public education today is in peril. Ravitch includes clear prescriptions for improving America’s schools: leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmen devise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be *learning* expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schools pay teachers a fair wage for their work, not “merit pay” based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scores encourage family involvement in education from an early age *The Death and Life of the Great American School System* is more than just an analysis of the state of play of the American education system. It is a must-read for any stakeholder in the future of American schooling. "Award-winning author, public intellectual, and former Assistant Secretary of Education, critiques a lifetime's worth of school reforms and reveals the simple, yet difficult, truth about how we can create actual change in public schools. A passionate plea to preserve and renew public education, this work is a radical change of heart from one of America's best known education experts. The author, a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum, examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, she critiques today's most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and the feckless multiplication of charter schools. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, she makes the case that public education today is in peril. She includes clear prescriptions for improving America's schools: leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmen ; devise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be learning ; expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schools ; pay teachers a fair wage for their work, not "merit pay" based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scores ; encourage family involvement in education from an early age. This book is an analysis of the state of play of the American education system"--Publisher's description An urgent case for protecting public education, from one of America's best-known education experts In this landmark book, Diane Ravitch - former assistant secretary of education and a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum - examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch critiques today's most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, the Common Core, standardized testing, the replacement of teachers by technology, charter schools, and vouchers. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, Ravitch makes the case that public education today is in peril and includes clear prescriptions for improving America's schools.The Death and Life of the Great American School System is more than just an analysis of the state of play of the American education system. It is a must-read for any stakeholder in the future of American schooling. Award-winning Author, Public Intellectual, And Former Assistant Secretary Of Education Diane Ravitch Critiques A Lifetime's Worth Of School Reforms And Reveals The Simple--yet Difficult--truth About How We Can Create Actual Change In Public Schools. What I Learned About School Reform -- Hijacked! : How The Standards Movement Turned Into The Testing Movement -- The Transformation Of District 2 -- Lessons From San Diego -- The Business Model In New York City -- Nclb : Measure And Punish -- Choice : The Story Of An Idea -- The Trouble With Accountability -- What Would Mrs. Ratliff Do? -- The Billionaire Boys' Club -- Lessons Learned. Diane Ravitch. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 243-271) And Index. Award-winning author, public intellectual, and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch critiques a lifetime's worth of school reforms and reveals the simple--yet difficult--truth about how we can create actual change in public schools. Abstract: Award-winning author, public intellectual, and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch critiques a lifetimes worth of school reforms and reveals the simpleyet difficulttruth about how we can create actual change in public schools Read more... Content: What I learned about school reform -- Hijacked! : how the standards movement turned into the testing movement -- The transformation of District 2 -- Lessons from San Diego -- The business model in New York City -- NCLB [No Child Left Behind] : measure and punish -- Choice : the story of an idea -- The trouble with accountability -- What would Mrs. Ratliff do? -- The billionaire boys' club -- Lessons learned. What I learned about school reform Hijacked!: how the standards movement turned into the testing movement The transformation of district 2 Lessons from San Diego The business model in New York City NCLB: measure and punish Choice: the story of an idea The trouble with accountability What would Mrs. Ratliff do? The billionaire boys' club Lessons learned Epilogue: school and society. In The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch examines her career in education reform, and repudiates positions that she once fiercely defended. Evaluating broadly popular ideas for restructuring schools, she explains why they have had no positive impact on the quality of American education.