This is one of the most surprising, inexplicable lists I have ever been on. I have no idea who sponsored it or what the criteria for inclusion were. I was delighted to be in the company of my old blogging partner Deborah Meier. I was taken aback to be on the same list with Michelle Rhee and Arne Duncan.
What’s the point? I don’t know.

Hard to know what it means if we don’t know who compiled it.
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This list lists the “success” of Michelle Rhee in Washington D.C. I’d be very interested to find out who created this.
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And “trial and error” in her Baltimore classroom includes her taping the mouths of her kids I guess.
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“Teaching runs in his family” of Arne Duncan. Too bad he didn’t take after those in his family and teach himself..
At least they didn’t put Gates on the list.
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I don’t know most of the names but I would probably replace Arne Duncan with Linda Darling-Hammond.
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You posted this awhile ago Diane – see https://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/09/i-deleted-the-global-guru-post/ and https://twitter.com/dianeravitch/status/564876471341051904
These were the results of the vote.
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Since every bio/photo is accompanied by a picture of a book available at Amazon it might indicate that somehow Amazon is at least one of the sponsors of this list. It is a very strange list indeed.
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Just be sure to keep that sword by your side …
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There is no address on any map for this location. 35 Pendwyallt Road
BURNSIDE
DD8 5QN
There is an address in Bristol but not for DD8 5QN
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Pearson?
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At least you’re number one Diane, as you are in the hearts of all of us.
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This Educator List is an INSULT to those who are RealEducators and not just playing one in the Media for $M, funded by CorpProfiteer$ and Reformsters.
“anybody can Teach” still alive and well in America.
Waiting for: Anybody can practice Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Commercial Pilot, Architect, Engineer…
Cosmetologists have more credentials than Arne, Michelle & Co., have in Education.
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An internet search of the phone number results in a reference to a page that gives the appearance of a lawsuit, in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.
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A little bit of searching on the site lays out the criteria. It appears to be mostly by “public opinion” to those that were surveyed. Good job, Diane!
http://www.globalgurus.org/education/index.php
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Can’t we all just get along? Aren’t we all just one happy family which sometimes squabbles over things? Gee, let’s just sit around a lunch table and eat until we all walk away feeling good about things. Nothing terrible is going on. No need to strike, boycott, walkout, wildcat, opt-out, or accuse anyone of bad selfish intentions. We’re all in this for the same reason, for the good our lovely little darling kids–so, can’t we all just get along?
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The despicable Rhee certainly dos not belong there.
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It would be nice to know the purpose of this list and who wrote it. What can be assumed is that Michelle Rhee wrote her own bio.
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At least you were #1 and Rhee was #14, but if this isn’t the final list then I think it is a ballot for someone to vote on.
From what I read of the criteria, the list comes through a democratic and/or popularity contest. If it is a popularity contest, then Rhee’s votes probably came from TFA recruits.
Here’s the criteria:
In judging the contenders of the various Global Guru Categories, we focus on two groups, which excluded political, military and business people and focused on those practitioners, trainers, speakers and consultants who develop and instill competency in others. The Top 30 Gurus, in their respective categories are the “Cream of the Crop”, the World’s Top 30 most influential Professionals Speakers, Trainers and/or Consultants in their areas and have received more than 500 votes each. All not only apply their own principals to achieve superior results in their organisations, but develop and influence people and organisations throughout the globe.
Our research came from e-mails sent to 22,000 business people, consultants, academics and MBA’s around the world for nominations and our public opinion poll.
We shortlist 60 names then did a Google search for ranking, then requested voting.
The criteria for judging the TOP 30 focused on:
Public opinion – 30%
Originality of ideas – 30%
Impact of original ideas – 10%
Practicality of ideas – 10%
Presentation style – 10%
Number of publications and writings – 5%
Guru factor 5%
– See more at: http://www.globalgurus.org/education/index.php#sthash.vq9Qxm28.dpuf
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Notice the spelling of words like organisations (British?) and the poor grammar and syntax (ignorant?) – except for the fact that Diane is #1!
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Actually I don’t pay attention to the spelling or even the mechanics that much unless it is too obvious to ignore. When I went through training one summer to grade student essays, we were taught that the only time spelling should count to knock a rubric score down was when it was often noticeable and had an impact on the context of the essay—meaning riddling the page, distracting the reader and making reading difficult.
In fact, I create typos all the time that cause words to be misspelled and even though I proof almost everything I write, being human and having dyslexia, I don’t always catch the misspelled word because somewhere between my eyes and my brain, the message corrects itself and I don’t even see the misspelled word. Even using a ruler and reading backwards from the bottom up and from right to left doesn’t catch the typos that change a word, for instance, from blue to blew (this is where a spell check doesn’t help).
Imagine what it was like before the English language was standardized around Shakespeare’s time. I read the copy of an original letter written by Queen Elizabeth I and she spelled horse several different ways in the same letter but ever one of them sounded like horse when spoken.
When I was tested as a child, my dyslexic was so bad my mother was told I’d never learn to read or write.
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I’m having deja vu – haven’t we seen this somewhere before? Didn’t you post a list like this before that people were supposed to vote on? But, IIRC, there was something malicious about the site and you took down the link? In any case, again, if I’m remembering correctly, you posted it because you found it amusing, not because you wanted anyone to vote for you (in fact, you specifically told people not to vote for you). I think this may just be the final list post-voting.
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Dienne, you have a good memory. I did post this, and told readers not to vote for me. Whatever. When I saw the list, I was amused to see how many strange bedfellows were in the same crib.
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Well, you post about a dozen or so articles a day – I don’t know how you keep track at all.
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Homogenized School Reform.
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I just voted there for Diane as most inspirational You can vote, too! http://globalgurus.org/education/index.php
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Thank you Reteach 4 America! I just voted too!
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You’re welcome, momofonedifferentlearner! Thank YOU for voting!
Unfortunately, it looks like reformsters have been voting more than advocates of public education.
From what I can tell, you only get one vote. Who’s the most inspirational guru in education, folks?
Vote 4 Diane Ravitch!
http://globalgurus.org/education/index.php
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Nice list, Diane, and you deserve the top spot. I would however add some other very fine educators…….who speak from their hearts and support real education!
Sydney Gurewitz Clemens
Howard Gardner
Alfie Kohn
Donald Griggs
Liege Motta
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Diane is only listed first. Michelle Rhee & Arne Duncan both currently have a higher ranking according to the votes. You can change that and VOTE FOR DIANE! http://globalgurus.org/education/index.php
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Arne Duncan is #24 and he currently has more votes than Diane. There must be a limit to the number of people who work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Walton Family, Eli Broad and those Hedge Fund billionaires who were probably ordered to vote or get fired.
But then again, Oprah, who belongs to the Bill Gates Cabal working hard to destroy the public schools and any semblance of democracy left in the US, could ask her fans to vote for Duncan and Rhee and then Diane wouldn’t stand a chance. No one would. Rhee could win the Ms. USA beauty pageant if Oprah endorsed her if the winner was selected from a call in vote. Even Duncan could win a beauty contest for women with an Oprah endorsement on her show.
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Non sequitur clickbait.
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