Julian Vasquez Heilig is the most creative blogger I know in terms of his brilliant combination of flashy graphics, research, and informed commentary.
Here he describes the century-long battle between the managerial elites—who believe that schools can be improved by data, management, mandates and standardization, always controlled by them–and the pedagogical crowd–who have fought the managers that the starting point in education is the students, how they learn, what they need, not the management.
It is Taylor vs. Dewey.
The Taylorites run the show for now. They ARE the status quo.
The day of reckoning is coming.
They are losing because everything they have done has failed.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Speaking of the misguided meddling of the managerial elite, this update on the man we love to hate I thought worth sharing… [my comment at the bottom]
From Valerie Strauss:
“It would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won’t know for probably a decade.”
That’s what Bill Gates said on Sept. 21 (see video below) about the billions of dollars his foundation has plowed into education reform during a nearly hour-long interview he gave at Harvard University. He repeated the “we don’t know if it will work” refrain about his reform efforts a few days later during a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Hmmm. Teachers around the country are saddled every single year with teacher evaluation systems that his foundation has funded, based on no record of success and highly questionable “research.” And now Gates says he won’t know if the reforms he is funding will work for another decade. But teachers can lose their jobs now because of reforms he is funding.
In the past he sounded pretty sure of what he was doing. In this 2011 oped in The Washington Post, he wrote:
What should policymakers do? One approach is to get more students in front of top teachers by identifying the top 25 percent of teachers and asking them to take on four or five more students.”
Actually, that’s not an approach any educator I know would think is a good idea, but Gates had decided that class size doesn’t really matter. Earlier, he had put some $2 billion into forming small schools out of large high schools, on the theory that small schools would better serve students. When the initiative didn’t work out as he hoped, he moved on by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on teacher evaluation systems that in part linked teacher assessments to student standardized test scores, an approach that many assessment experts have warned against,
Now he says that the success of his experiments on public education won’t be known for a decade, but we already know that evaluating teachers by student test scores is a bad idea.
Education reform should not be driven by private philanthropists with their own agendas, however well-intentioned.
Rangoon78
7:15 AM PDT
Further evidence of Gates’ ill-advized, ham-fisted, one-size-fits-all meddling the world’s criticle systems:
Bill Gates: “We Need Genetically Modified Seeds”
“AFP adds that Gates announced $200 million (150 million euros) in new grants from his foundation to finance research on a new type of drought-resistant maize.
The Associated Press notes that Gates’ plan is looking for more accountability with countries receiving aid, saying they should provide “report cards” to show what they’ve accomplished with the aid.
As John Vidal reported for the Guardian, the claims that genetically modified seeds can increase gains have been challenged by research:
‘Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of “superweeds”, according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people…”
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/23-2
Mr. Gates and his foundation are doing amazing things in the developing world. His organization is responsible for saving the lives of many, many millions of children. How sad it is,then, that the same man, who is doing such good elsewhere, should be doing so much damage here at home via the ill-conceived standards [sic] in ELA and the tests based on those.
When the elite set policy it has gone beyond philanthropy
“Thirty years ago, in starting Microsoft, we had a very ambitious vision: a computer for everyone. Now, I join you in seeking an even more important vision, which is good health for every human being.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2011/wha64/bill_gates_speech_20110517/en/
I’m not sure his work in the developing world is really on the up-and-up either. My husband is from Ghana where Gates has dug a number of wells. But the Ghanaians are suspicious of him because during construction the well sites are strictly off-limits and everything is very secretive. Also, Gates always secures the right to take and keep any soil dug up, leading many to suspect it’s more about mineral rights than clean water.
I’ve also heard very unpleasant allegations about his vaccination programs, but I haven’t looked into that in any detail.
THE MEN WE LOVE TO HATE
Teachers around the country are saddled every single year with teacher evaluation systems that his foundation has funded, based on no record of success and highly questionable “research.”
HOW DO WE KNOW that teacher evaluations will improve student learning?
“One approach is to get more students in front of top teachers by identifying the top 25 percent of teachers and asking them to take on four or five more students.” …Gates has decided that class size doesn’t really matter.
HOW DO WE KNOW that class size doesn’t really matter?
“Earlier, he had put some $2 billion into forming small schools out of large high schools, on the theory that small schools would better serve students.”
HOW DO WE KNOW that small schools will better serve students?
“AFP adds that Gates announced $200 million (150 million euros) in new grants from his foundation to finance research on a new type of drought-resistant maize…
…As John Vidal reported for the Guardian, the claims that genetically modified seeds can increase gains have been challenged by research:…”
HOW DO WE KNOW that genetically modified seeds can increase gains?
HOW DO WE KNOW?????
I agree with you Dienne. I wouldn’t trust Gates as far as I could through him. I have heard some really horrible things about his charitable work in other countries. I take some of it with a grain of salt, but I have also heard that many of these people don’t trust him and refuse to get his shots.
I meant throw him
Spellcheck: ‘critical’ not ‘criticle’
Everything the Taylor crowd has done has failed in education, but are they really losing? Taylor’s “Principles of Scientific Management” came out in 1911. I wish I could be more optimistic.
Joe Nashville, some really bad ideas never die, no matter how many times they are proven to fail. But the corporate reform movement is failing on every front. It will die, even though its true believers are unwilling to admit their failure. Margaret Spellings, George W., and Sandy Kress still believe in NCLB. But no one else does.
Diane
How long do you think it will take for the CCSS fail to culminate?
Do you think it will be an abrupt ending or a slow die-off?
NY teacher, districts and states will spend billions on Common Core materials, new hardware, new bandwidth, new tests, new PD. Meanwhile, the backlash against the cost of Common Core will grow. Some will complain about standardization. Some will spread crazy rumors about what Common Core will do. Proponents will make wild and unsubstantiated claims about the value of Common Core. Opponents will make equally wild and flawed claims about the dangers. More states will withdraw from the Common Core testing. Teachers will say it’s not that different from the old standards. 25 states will stick with it. Studies will show that there is little, if any, difference between states that have the Common Core and those that don’t. People will write books that won’t be bestsellers about why the Common Core didn’t matter.
Sounds like you’re describing a very slow die-off. I was hoping for an abrupt ending – I guess the train wreck is unfolding in slow motion. Unfortunately here in NY we are losing some excellent teachers thanks to the insane nature of RTT/CCSS/APPR evaluations. One of our best teachers has just decided to call it quits because of this nonsense.
Is it possible some people will never even know it happened? I find folks daily who have no clue. Perhaps it will die out before they are the wiser. (?)
Everyone leaves out the financial aspect of this. No Money, No Programme!!!! Does this make any sense? No one today actually runs on data. If they did this would all come to a screaching halt. Even the CREDO Stanford study shows the total failure of charter schools without the “Correction Factor” to allow for the lack of following state ed code, local regulations, cherrypicking students and parents and not dealing with behavioral problems, ESL and special education, especially the moderate to severly disabled. When CORE-CA and the California Title 1 Parent Union shows its spreadsheets and data they do not know what to do with the detailed, documented spreadsheets and data we give them properly organized and through time to show the outrageous lawbreaking and lack of concern for the public, parents, students, teachers and school staff. The California Title 1 Parent Union through their ceaseless work with the Federal Govt. at DOE is now bringing LAUSD down to its knees on the lawbreaking for two years on Title 1 at LAUSD. At the same time CORE-CA has been doing the financial work on the budget, construction bonds, I-Pads to show the total lack of professionalism and fraud going on. We do it with documents, their documents with their signatures on them as with Aquino and his resignation. He resigned about two hours after Yolande Beckles from the California Title 1 Parent Union presented at a Thursday Committee meeting just two days after CORE-Ca and the California Title 1 Parent Union laid down time after time the fraud going on at LAUSD with Deasy, with the phony PHD and work record and Aquino, now a proven fraud, and Judy Elliott, former holder of Aquino’s position, Asst. Sup. of Instruction, now a corrupt person back east. Since Cowboy Roy Romer we have had nothing but massive corruption including over 1/2 of the $27 billion dollar school construction bonds given away for free to contractors. We can prove this with state and district documents.
Do your homework, you ask students to do it why not you? Education never ends. It is 10-12 hours a day/24-7 for us.
We tend to equate managerial elites with those in the private sector who would impose Taylor like methods on schools —should add these are already firmly in place. We should also take a hard look at various media giants who continually misrepresent or are ignorant of fundamental theories, ideas, and practices in education. Today’s New York Times for example has an extensive article on E. D. Hirsch with the claim that he initiated a one man battle against John Dewey and progressive approaches to schooling — which according the article took over schooling resulting in the low performance of our schools. Not to go on at length about what the author of the article does not know about education, but suffice it to say that: 1) Dewey’s ideas and practices never took over our schools —one should look to F. Bobbitt and Taylor for that accolade; 2) Yes, Dewey was a proponent of learn by doing — translation—learning is about meaning and meaning can only happen in a doing environment. But Dewey was always a strong believer in content mastery–which his critics continually misrepresent.
Joe Nashville: dianerav is not exaggerating when she wrote that “some really bad ideas never die, no matter how many times they are proven to fail.”
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) had these folks pegged long ago:
“You can’t teach an old dogma new tricks.”
Case in point. Like so many of the self-styled “education reformers’” innovative new ideas, merit pay for educators proved a failure in the—ready for this?—NINETEENTH CENTURY!
Jim Horn and Denise Wilburn, THE MISMEASURE OF EDUCATION (2013, p. 60), preface a citation by writing “One of the longest lasting merit pay systems involved extra pay for better test scores in England … and it lasted from 1862 to the mid-1890s.” Citation (from Wilms and Chapleau 1999) follows:
As historical accounts show, English teachers and administrators became obsessed with the system’s financial rewards and punishments. It was dubbed the “cult of the [cash’ register.” Schools’ curricula were narrowed to include just the easily measured basics. Drawing, science, singing, and even school gardening simply disappeared. Teaching became increasingly mechanical, as teachers found that drill and rote repetition produced the “best” results. One schools inspector wrote an account of children reading flawlessly for him while holding their books upside down. [end of citation]
Just how attractive can zombie-addiction be? Just an anecdote, which may or may not be true. I have been assured by the usual unreliable sources that at a recent practice, er, gathering of some of the invitees to the upcoming MisEducation Nation, a lull in the ‘action’ was proclaimed and $tudent $ucce$$ Cagebusters sat down for a movie break. Featured: World War Z [= Zombie]. Since all reporters and journalists present had been prescreened to ensure their ‘independent-minded adherence’ to strict rules on what to praise and and what to pretend they never saw, it did not immediately come out that there was an unusual pattern of cheers and jeers, of full-throated yells of encouragement and disappointed hisses of disapproval.
I for one find it hard—nay, almost impossible—to believe, but every time the humans scored a victory the audience practically broke down in tears of frustration and anger, whilst every battle won by the zombies was greeted by shouts of “go get ‘em” and “never say die!” [apparently unaware that the last could be construed as a slighting reference to the undead].
Apparently at one high point for the zombies, Paul Vallas stood up in front of Michelle Rhee and wildly waved his arms in every direction, knocking her broom and masking tape into the next aisle, and proclaimed in a very loud voice, “Go in, eat their brains, move on to the next bunch of brains!”**
**Apparently a mangled version of something he actually did say on one occasion: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Paul-Vallas–213999671.html
According to one widely circulated news bulletin, the screening inspired some hedge funder managers to back the next version of WON’T BACK DOWN. Set in a dystopian future yearning for Innovation and Metrics, it will prominently feature the undead [both beings and ideas], including a character who leads a famously unrelenting zombie horde called Dead For Awhile (DFA). Perhaps more fearsome still is another lead character heading an even more ferocious group called ZombiesFirst [ZF].
I cannot vouch for all this, of course, since I wasn’t there.
But let me know when the movie comes out. It should knock ‘em dead.
🙂
I plan to take this chart to my meeting about school improvement.