This editorial in the Battle Creek Enquirer is exactly right. High-stakes testing is ruining education.
Testing kids more and blaming their teachers doesn’t improve education.
The editorial rightly points out that Michelle Rhee–the advocate for high-stakes testing and every punitive measure she can dream up–is no model for Michigan.
Her teacher evaluation system in DC has produced no dramatic improvement.
Nor will she ever admit that the DC schools still have the largest achievements gaps in the nation.
When I see an editorial like this, I am reminded that the American people have not lost their minds.
But our policymakers in states like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, and a few other states most certainly have.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Read, “Yes We Are STUPID in America!”.
You keep pushing your book, so I decided to look on Amazon. The first sentence of your product description: “Students in countries such as Finland, South Korea, and Singapore continue to outperform their peers in America. But that hasn’t stopped the United States government from spending more money on education as achievement plummets.”
You do understand that other countries really aren’t “outperforming” the U.S. when you control for poverty, right? And no, “achievement” isn’t “plummeting”. Scores on the NAEP continue to increase bit by bit, year by year.
One of the biggest problems with education “reform” is the assumption that American education is “failing” when it is not, in fact, failing. By focusing on failure, we actually increase the chances of actual failure (which for many “reformers” is intentional – they want actual or perceived failure so they can swoop in and “save” the children with their various privatization schemes). It seems to me that you buy into the narrative of failure and you are yet one more person who has “the solution”. How is your “solution” better than all the other “reformers” we’ve heard from?
Dienne, you are right. Our schools are not failing. Any society that allows nearly a quarter of its children to grow up in poverty has deep problems not caused by schools.
Diane, have schools improved significantly over the last 10 or 15 years? I thought you were one of the people who used to cite NAEP scores as evidence that our schools were failing. Or is it more about a change in emphasis and tone?
Good job, Dienne.
The failure thing has to go.
No evidence.
Maybe lansing will start getting the message. David Willson Boyne City Middle School 231-439-8248
Amen to that! As a teacher in Michigan I live the nightmare every day. It is refreshing to see editorials finally calling what it is…corporate takeover of PUBLIC education. I would encourage others in Michigan to start speaking up.
Where is the NYTimes editorial board on this?
Silent.
Don’t forget Oklahoma, where we’re ‘led’ by a Jeb Bush disciple, a dentist who helped start a charter school. Anything out of Bush’s mouth is golden around here.
Diane,
I’m just another veteran Michigan teacher trying to keep his head up. At first, when I saw your headline, I couldn’t believe that a Michigan-based newspaper wrote this. Then I realized it wasn’t one of the MLive newspapers (GR Press, etc.) – the ones that publish every PR release of the Mackinac Center – and it all made sense. Anything from MC or StudentsFirst gets first priority in these papers. Anything else is seen as “union thug mentality.”
so true. Some of the local papers still appear to be free. Have you looked at the Detroit News and Free Press? They are totally bought. The local nightly news seems to be too. People need to organize at the local level and push.
Maine teachers have been fighting back all this week by lobbying and testifying at our state house!
The role of schools is often considered to be to meet the needs of society. However, these needs change quicker than policies can handle. Most policy makers consider the power of schools to be too ideal: as an equalizer (ie. since every child must go to school, they thus have the same opportunities and experiences). Yet, reality is: this cannot happen without addressing the ills in society. There are major discrepancies between schools because of the demographics. Poverty alone is not to blame, but it is the largest contributor to failing schools along with decreasing financial resources in schools.
The field of teaching is no longer looked at with respect. In the past if a student failed, parents and teachers looked to the student and came up with ways for improvement. Present day, parents and administrators play the blame game, asking teachers, “why did you fail my/this child.” The responsibility for a quality education cannot solely lie on the teacher during school hours. Students must do their part and parents should contribute. Yet, in regions of poverty, this is at times impossible, with work and making money on the minds of both parents and students.
So it is no surprise why teachers result to teaching to the test, especially without meaningful and purposeful evaluations…no one is addressing the real issues at hand.
The role of schools is often considered to be to meet the needs of society. However, these needs change quicker than policies can handle. Most policy makers consider the power of schools to be too ideal: as an equalizer (ie. since every child must go to school, they thus have the same opportunities and experiences). Yet, reality is: this cannot happen without addressing the ills in society. There are major discrepancies between schools because of the demographics. Poverty alone is not to blame, but it is the largest contributor to failing schools along with decreasing financial resources in schools.
The field of teaching is no longer looked at with respect. In the past if a student failed, parents and teachers looked to the student and came up with ways for improvement. Present day, parents and administrators play the blame game, asking teachers, “why did you fail my/this child.” The responsibility for a quality education cannot solely lie on the teacher during school hours. Students must do their part and parents should contribute. Yet, in regions of poverty, this is at times impossible, with work and making money on the minds of both parents and students.
So it is no surprise why teachers result to teaching to the test, especially without meaningful and purposeful evaluations…no one is addressing the real issues at hand.
Reblogged this on thefreshmanexperience and commented:
As we go into our last year of Ohio Graduate Tests… and begin the new era of 50% of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on one test… food for thought