Ravitch Rails!!

Diane Ravitch, noted education historian, has recently spoken to a number of teachers at the Annual Mtg. of the Minnesota Education Association.  Her message was clear...high stakes testing is wrong and, in her own words, is "sucking the life out of American education."

Her words ring true.  Plenty of time is put into test preparation, the results are often used to evaluate teachers to a large degree, and the standardized test results have yet to prove, in any meaningful way, the extent to which positive test results positively correlate to life, economic, education or social success in the years after public schooling.  Beyond that, the testing that takes place is done to the detriment of great day-to-day teaching and learning.

The vast majority of people in the field of education understand that the testing agenda plays too large a role in the process of educating our nation's youth.  Perhaps those in the corporate testing world should listen to those in the classroom (teachers and students) to get the real scoop.

Ravitch has also criticized proponents of the testing reform movement as ignoring other educational components beyond teachers and the school building...the impact of parents and povety. 

Our work in Schools Count Corp has discovered the first hand evidence concerning the role that poverty and parental influence plays on student learning.  Where poverty abounds and parental involvement is lacking, student success is often lagging.

Ravitch isn't just blowing smoke, she speaks the truth.

Dick