LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

A Hero Superintendent in Illinois

Scott Kuffel is the superintendent of the Geneseo schools, District 228, in Illinois. He has been superintendent of schools there for five years. When he learned that the State Education Department had decided to raise the passing marks (cut scores) so that more students would be rated as failing, he was not at all pleased. The state claimed it was lowering scores to get students and teachers read

by dianerav / 2min 

How Did Massachusetts Become Number 1?

Massachusetts has consistently scored at the top of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in recent years in fourth and eighth grades, in reading and mathematics. Massachusetts and a few other states participated in the TIMSS, an international test of math and science, and Massachusetts did very well, so well that its 8th graders placed second in the world, behind only Singapore, in scie

3 by dianerav / 17min 

Koch Brother Pours $$ into NYC Mayoral Race

The New York Times reports today that David Koch, one of the rightwing billionaire Koch brothers, is buying broadcast ads to support the candidacy of Joseph Lhota, who is running for mayor as a Republican. The Koch brothers can be counted on to subsidize almost any effort that privatizes the public sector and guts government programs that help people. After all, they don’t need government programs

by dianerav / 4min 

Sara Mosle: Being a Parent Made Me a Better Teacher

In a continuing fall-out from Motoko Rich’s article in the New York Times about charter teachers who plan on a two-or three-year career, Sara Mosle reflects how her own views about teaching have evolved. When she joined Teach for America some 20-plus years ago, she was part of a cohort that thought that youthful enthusiasm was superior to experience. It was not uncommon for her and her colleagues

1 by dianerav / 10min 

New Book Analyzes Roots of Testing Movement

This is a book you should read if you want to understand how assessments are now being misused. It sets a valuable political and historical context for understanding the mess that is now federal education policy. The Mismeasure of Education by Jim Horn and Denise Wilburn should be on your shelf. The publisher just dropped the price to $27.50.     With new student assessments and teacher evaluation

3 by dianerav / 14min 

Cuomo’s Teacher Evaluation

New York won $700 million in Race to the Top funding, which involved a commitment to measure teacher effective meant in significant part by test scores of their students. This theory, which Arne Duncan has imposed on the nation’s schools by using federal funds as a lure, has not worked anywhere. It has failed everywhere. Its main consequence is to demoralize teachers, like the one who wrote this c

by dianerav / 12min 

My Fall Schedule

My new book will be officially published on September 17. It is titled Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. The publisher is Alfred A. Knopf, the nation’s most distinguished publishing house. It will dispel many of the myths and half-truths that have been repeated again and again in recent years in an effort to discredit public educatio

5 by dianerav / 1h 

Diane in the Evening 9-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Words to Remember and Believe InOur frequent commenter who signs in as “KrazyTA” gave us this inspirational gem: “Always take things with a grain of salt, but Mahatma Gandhi was not far off when he said: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murde

by mike simpson / 3h 

My new book will be officially published on September 17.
It is titled Reign of Error: The Hoax of the
Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public
Schools. The publisher is Alfred A. Knopf, the nation’s
most distinguished publishing house. It will dispel many of the
myths and half-truths that have been repeated again and again in
recent years in an effort to discredit public education.

I will travel and lecture across the country. I won’t travel as much as I
would like to, as I must preserve my health and energy. I will
donate most of my speaking fees to the Network for Public
Education.  

The schedule below is subject to change and I
will add more details later, but this is a heads-up about where I
will be speaking:  

September 10:
Elmhurst, IL Elmhurst
College 7:00 pm

September 11
New York City Judson Memorial Church,
Washington Square 6 pm

September 16:
Pittsburgh:
Temple Sinai
5505 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill neighborhood. 6 pm

September 17:
Philadelphia Free Library.
Montgomery Auditorium 6 pm.

September 23
New York City
The Century Foundation
1 Whitehall St., NYC
(Call for
reservation) 6 pm

September 25
Denver
North HIgh School
2960 N. Speer Blvd. 7 pm

September 26
Seattle
University of Washington
Kane Hall 130 7 pm

September 27
Sacramento
Memorial Auditorium
6:30 pm

September 28
Berkeley
Martin Luther King Middle School
1781 Rose Street.
7 pm

September 30
Stanford University
Cubberley Auditorium
6 pm

October 1
Los Angeles
Occidental College
Thorne Hall 7 pm

October 2
California State University
18111 Nordhoff St
Northridge,CA. 7 pm

October 5
Washington, DC
National Superintendents
Roundtable
Limited to registered superintendents

October 8
Congregation Beth Elohim,
274 Garfield Place
Park Slope, Brooklyn 7:30 pm

October 10
Northern Michigan University
Marquette, Michigan 7:30 pm

October 15
Kingston, RI.
University of Rhode Island,
School of Education 6:30 pm

October 17
Long Branch, New Jersey
New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (Limited to members)
9:30-10:30am

October 18
Washington, DC
Lunch event at Economic Policy Institute
Book signing at Politics and Prose bookstore

October 23:
Dartmouth College
Vermont School Boards Association
Alumni Hall 7:30 pm

November 1: Atlanta
United Way.
Georgia Tech
Hotel and Conference Center. 8 am.

November 4
Princeton, NJ
Community Forum, 4 pm
Princeton University Public Lecture 8 pm

November 13:
Chicago
First Free Church
5255 N. Ashland Avenue
7:30 pm

November 22
Richmond, VA.
Virginia Education Association

I intend to keep the schedule and details updated
on my website at dianeravitch.com.