A Primer on Diane Ravitch

1. DIANE RAVITCH

2. Who is Diane Ravitch?
Read this bio to get an idea…
She’s close by… at New York University!
Here is a recent blog by Diane
Ravitch published in
Education Week. In it, she
laments the market-based
“reform” movements in Ohio
& Cleveland.

3. How are our educational problems today different than those of the past?
“American education is still embattled, still struggling to win public
support and approval, and, perhaps worse, still struggling to find its
own clear sense of purpose” (Ravitch, 1985, p. 98).
“In reality, many present complaints are reactions to hard-
won reforms of the past” (Ravitch, 1985, p. 98).

4. Are standardized tests fair?
If people are questioning the credibility of
the SAT, should changes be made?
Do standardized tests really prove anything about a student?
“(SAT scores) provided a sense
of a pattern in the carpet that
had not previously been
discernible” (Ravitch, 1985, p.
101).
“…tests were neither a cause of nor a
remedy for the underlying malaise
in American education”
(Ravitch, 1985, p. 102).

5. Check out this trailer for the movie “Waiting for Superman”.
Read what TIME has to say about the movie…
How does it feel to know
“Course requirements were eased, new courses
that there are children out proliferated, academic standards
there that will get a good dropped, homework diminished, and adults
education based on a lottery generally relinquished their authority to direct
number? student learning” (Ravitch,1985, p. 101)
Why is it that we have
fallen behind in every
academic category when
compared to other
countries?
Are we “dumbing” down
our curriculum?

6. How Does the United States Compare?
“In no other country in the world does participation in formal
schooling last as long, for so many people as in the United
States.” (Ravitch 1985, p.98)
China Debuts at Top of International Education Rankings - ABC
News
If Americans spend more time in school, then why are they
ranked so low? (As shown on next slide…)

7. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2011). 2011 Annual Letter from Bill Gates. Retrieved February 12, 2011 from
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/2011/Pages/infographics.aspx.

8. Read the following quote:
“The curriculum should be designed so that every student has
the fullest opportunity to develop his powers, intelligence,
interests, talent, and understanding” (Ravitch, 1985, p. 104).
With that, do you believe that it is important that all students
should be subject to a large amount of curricular requirements?
Or should students have more choices in what they
decide to take throughout their education?
Is it okay that people are learning more and more by
watching television and movies?

9. Read the quote….
“In colleges, students demanded, and usually won, the abolition
of course requirements, the adoption of pass-fail grading, the
de-emphasis of competition and testing…high schools soon
succumbed to many of the same pressures that had changed the
colleges.” (Ravitch 1985, p. 101)
If there is no competition within the schools, how can
Americans readily expect to compete in the world market?

10. Education was expected to “Improve the
economy and economic opportunities by
raising the number of intelligent and
skilled individuals” (Ravitch, 1985, p.99).
Take a look at this clip… Race to Nowhere Theatrical Trailer
Are children actually learning or has society pressured them
into the idea of pass the test get into college?
Do American children love to learn? Or are they essentially
motivated by economic prowess?

11. We end with this final thought….
Has our education system really improved over
the years with education reform?
Relationships Between Factors Affecting Educational Reform
(Dougiamas, 1998, p. 1).