A High-Powered Exchange on Public Education
Steve Novick
If you're interested in public education, take a look at this exchange between reknowned inner-city principal and writer Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch, author most recently of The Death and Life of the Great American School System. It's a terrific back-and-forth. Meier, by the way, had this to say about the selection of Arne Duncan in a discussion that occurred right after he was picked:
"But I think we’ve bought into, and Arne Duncan has bought into, the worst parts of the business mentality or the business model. I think there are things we can learn from the business world, but accountability is not one of them. And I think we’ve bought into some of the shoddiest accountability mindset, in which everybody is forced to lie. You know, high-stakes numbers means you play with the numbers. There’s something, I think, in sociology called Campbell’s Law: the higher the stakes, the more corrupt the data. And Obama, I think, quotes data about Chicago’s success, which I can’t expect him to be an expert on, but I’m enough of an expert to tell you it’s nonsense. And the test scores, NAEP test scores, which are the only test scores that are consistent around the nation, which shows no progress in the last seven, eight years in Chicago."
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1:41 p.m.
May 12, '10
Frankly, I don't think sending inner city kids to Sidwell Friends would improve their performance one bit since one critical element that these kids lack, and something Sidwell cannot replace, is the support system in the home that embraces education.
4:38 p.m.
May 12, '10
Absolutely agree.
Without a support system in the home, it takes extraordinary drive on the student's part to achieve superior academic achievement.
7:04 a.m.
May 13, '10
If that were true, then why are Direct Instruction schools working?
6:43 p.m.
May 13, '10
DI is not a panacea. It works in very specific circumstances. It's also a methodology, not a script.
11:06 a.m.
May 13, '10
Which piece in that blog?
12:18 a.m.
May 15, '10
Wow, this was a good read.