The Daily Howler is all over the media for its sour reporting about the latest international test (TIMSS). He finds that they reverted to their “doom and gloom” scenario without bothering to dig into the data.
He dug into the data and found lots to cheer about.
In this post, Bob Somerby parses the data and discovers that black students in Massachusetts did as well as students in Finland on the eighth grade math test.
Surely that is newsworthy, isn’t it? I mean, if the media wants to find headlines, this ought to be one. But it was not, because they can’t break free of their customary lens.
Hello, New York Times! Hello, newspaper of record!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, it most certainly is!
The mainstream news is mostly owned by Murdoch. Glad there are people like Dr. Ravitch.
“The mainstream news is mostly owned by Murdoch”? In the U.S.? Oh, so he has acquired ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, PBS, The New York Times, LA Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, etc., etc.? I wonder why I didn’t notice.
Murdoch does own a big chunk of the mainstream conservative press, yes. Fox, WSJ, some financial stuff. Hardly most of the mainstream news.
Somerby has been on this for years. He was one of the very first to call out the mainstream media for telling tall tales about how bad America’s schools are.
He was also one of the first writers I ever read who questioned Michelle Rhee’s nonsensical claims about her teaching career:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh070207.shtml
That was all the way back in 2007. Would that others asked Somerby’s simple questions.
Wonderful news but, unfortunately, all the privateers & reformers WANT to use are those terribly faulty, NOT “standardized” tests used by our states. Not to mention the CCSS. That’s why our primary goal MUST be to STOP “standardized” testing! (Aside from the major fact that Pearson is robbing BILLIONS of dollars from our schools.)
When we make this happen–and we WILL–the house of cards will collapse, as you’ve
repeatedly said, Diane.
I went and posted my reply before reading yours. You are correct. And how will we stop the testing if no one will listen?
As I said — this is no longer a debate. It is a war.
I haven’t read about any of this in the locals rags..er, newspapers. But, I just read about New Orleans’s reform miracle in the recent issue of Newsweek. It made me want to gag.
A few years back the NAEP scores suggested New Jersey’s eighth graders were “the best in the nation” and rather than be proud, a spokesperson for Governor Christopher ( former lobbyist for “for profit schools”) Christie said, it doesn’t matter because the whole system is wretched!
Some people can’t take success lying down.
New Jersey continues to be among the top two or three states in the nation on NAEP in reading and math, grades 4 and 8.
Tell Governor Christie.
Finland had big problems in education (just like here, contrary to what Somerby said) until they implemented gradual reform. Also, they start teaching reading it what would here be second or third grade, so naturally their fourth graders might still be a bit behind — they catch up later and then surpass us, arguably because they have had an excellent foundation in pre-school, which our kids lack.
Still Somerby’s point that the “crisis” is hyped stands.
This is good news, Dr. Ravitch, and worth reporting. However, those who are calling the shots in this country will not listen to it, because they do not HAVE to listen to it. The corporate education reformers do not need to listen because they are already holding the reins of power.
I have been coming to the conclusion that it is power, not logic or truth, that will drive the future of education in this country. This is unfortunate, but it was not the choice of our educators — it is a reality that has been thrust upon them.
This is no longer a debate. I do not know that it ever was one. It is a war.
I predict a wave of strikes across this nation over the next 5-10 years. The unfortunate fact is that no one will listen to anything else.
Chicago was just the beginning.