The blog passed 23 million page views today.
The blog is my virtual living room and all are invited to join the conversation. We talk about how to help children, public schools, and our society. We don’t always agree, and that’s good. We learn from one another.
Rarely, I have to ask a guest to leave. I do so reluctantly. I ask people to leave when they behave rudely, trying to disrupt our conversation. I am very tolerant, but my tolerance has its limits.
My goal is to inform readers about the corporate assault on public education and the raid on public funds. I am opposed to privatization and high-stakes testing. Privatization creates a dual school system and sucks students and resources out of public schools, making it harder or impossible for them to succeed.
I believe that public education is a civic responsibilty, not a profit-making opportunity.
I believe testing has grown out of control. Higher test scores are not and should not be the goal of education.
The goal of education is to develop young people into adults of good character who can think for themselves, make wise choices, and contribute to the betterment of society.
None of the goals that matter most are measured by standardized tests.
I believe our schools can be much better. But first we must free ourselves from the stranglehold of testing and school choice. Our schools will not become better by testing more, by starving public schools to enrich entrepreneurs, or to replace experienced teachers with unprepared newcomers.
The purpose of this blog is to inform you and encourage you to take action.
Eventually we will prevail. Nothing proposed and imposed by the so-called reformers has worked as predicted. They have created chaos, demoralized teachers, and created a teacher shortage. After 15 years of NCLB and Race to the Top, it is abundantly clear that their punitive ideas and policies do not work and will never work. Yet the reformers plow forward, because they have so much money and can’t admit defeat.
They are a ghost army, using paid bloggers and filling demonstrations with parents and students directed to show up.
Do not lose hope or heart. Do not quit. That’s what they hope for.
We will persevere and we will prevail. We are many. They are few.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Congratulations, Diane, but also to all of us who read & comment.Nothing can be more powerful than conversation leading to action. I am more than pleased to have both taken & given good, solid advice to advance both hope and avenues to action to many individuals & groups who would otherwise have not been reached, but for your blog.
Introducing us to Edushyster, Educurmudgeon & commenters such as the brilliant Duane Swacker (yes, brilliant–who else has read & interpreted Wilson, & can repeat it 23 million more times, w/o seeming redundant?), Jon Awbrey, Robert Rendo, Bob Shepherd, Krazy TA, Dienne, 2old2teach & just way to many to mention here, but thanks for sharing your wisdom. Also to posters Anthony Cody, Peter Greene, Carol Burris & many more. (I’m sorry if I left anyone out–have to be brief– much cleaning & cooking to do, here). Plus, I’m grateful for the baby born of this blog–the N.P.E. What a fantastic, informative, action-spurring conference we had in April!
So, Diane, thank you 23 million times. And…wishing you an easy fast!
Thank you! Passion will beat profits!
Being on the right side of history doesn’t pay in dollars, but in the satisfaction of doing what is right for children and for America.
rbmtk,
Thanks for the very kind words! You forgot to mention yourself in the list.
Rbmtk (and her gentleman husband) were kind enough to open their home to me to sleep for Sat night for the NPE conference which helped me afford to be able to go. We met up at the conference along with 2o2t and spent a couple of great days participating. Again, thanks to rbmtk for pounding the pavement, doing a number of “unsung” actions to help our cause here at “the site to discuss better education for all”. So many thanks to her!
Take care,
Your friend,
Duane
retiredbutmissthekids: what Duane Swacker said at the beginning of his comments.
😃
Your kind words about me are, I fear, more than I deserve, but I humbly acknowledge them and receive them in the spirit in which they were given.
If I may, no fancy stuff, I’ll reciprocate by writing again what I think I wrote once to you—or it may have been another teacher like 2old2teach—
We are generally on the same wavelength, and I am sure that it would have been an honor to work with you, in your classroom, as your TA, striving every day to give our best to our students and their parents and our communities.
Most krazy props.
😎
Retiredbutmissthekids,
Thank you for your most kind words to a bold and sometimes saucy big mouth like me.
I also thank you in turn for all of your insights and participation on the blog. I know I cannot go a day without Mercedes Schneider, Carol Burris, Robert Shepherd, Chiara, Duane, Dienne, KrazyTA, and so many more.
How could I not thank people like Tim, Joe Nathan, Virginiasgp, and Raj for always challenging me and making me realize how sane and focused I remain? They also motivate me all the more to right these wrongs. No tragedies can have its heroes without its grotesque, bloated villains.
Most of all, who can ever thank Diane Ravitch enough?
Diane, we – well nearly all of us – thank you profusely not just for your being you, but for the living room and company you have created that has connected us with other people and that has helped us transform each one ourselves into something bigger, better, more effective, and more critically thinking than we ever were before. Consequently, your patience and erudition has made us think and ACT more than many of us could ever dream of.
It is that one small crucial moment when there is something inside yourself that you know has changed, something you have never experienced before, and something that you know will stay with you forever. in the realm of metaphors, It’s as though one is visiting Italy many times without ever knowing how to speak the language, and then visiting it again two year later after intensive and successful study in the Italian language, when one is then able to converse all over the island of Sicily to get needs met.
At that point you’re more than a tourist.
And once you make certain political changes in yourself as a result of becoming INFORMED by Diane’s blog, you will have already changed a small part of the world. Imagine what you can do with that change intentionally to push back this god-awful reform movement.
This, to me, is Diane’s gift.
What a gift . . .
Thank you Diane, and here’s to 23 million more hits. Your blog is the beneficent version of a nuclear reaction.
Let’s all take privatization and the monetization of public education and go kick it hard in the ass with a spiked boot until it begs for mercy. Of course, just make sure to use facts, research, and persuasive argument techniques to do so . . . .
Thank you, Robert. Some of your favorite antagonists have left the room. I hope you won’t miss them too much.
Oh, the deliberate and tortuous obfuscation of truth, the transgression of basic moral and ethical boundaries, the public lies and astutely absurd positions? Ummm. No. Who needs garbage underneath the grounds when trying to level a hurrendously tilted playing field?
Dr. Ravitch,
I will miss my favorite antagonists dearly, but something tells me they will return for many a visit, save for poor, dear, sweet, thoroughly officious and self absorbed Harlan Underhill.
There needs to be someone to help us all sharpen our skills and voices, not to mention amuse the living daylights out of us.
Every court has its clowns and jesters . . . .
Summoning the spirit of Joseph N-a-a-a-a-than, Virginasg-p-e-e-e-e-e-e- and R-a-a-a-a-j . . . . . . . and other spooky creatures upon us . . . . .
Come back, come back from the netherworld . . . .
Respectfully disagree.
I know you speak in jest and faux magnanimity, but dealing with cranks in earnest is like banging one’s head against a wall. It does not sharpen skills, it lowers intelligence. it does however clarify what is known and not known, what is truly common sense and what is not, what is perhaps primarily gained by intuition and what is a matter of belief, but ultimately it is like having a religious debate with a devout and unreasonable college roommate. It is a bad idea, and there’s much to lose (tempers, sleep, respect) with possibly absolutely nothing to gain.
A comment from a troll may be an amusing thing, but seeing threads hijacked by tons of horse manure is not my cup of tea.
Akademos,
I’ll make this brief because I have so much work to do in the next 9 days.
I AGREE with you, but free speech is free speech, and those other cretins are entitled to comment on this blog as long as they play by the host’s rules. I have no control over their coming and going, so I may as well get used to their freedom of speech (I cannot call it freedom of “thought” because, well, you tell me where their critical thinking is . . .) while I will never be used to their mindset.
Besides, we always have the confines of our private walls to articulate what we really feel about such beings, and in that forum, I don’t have to abide by Diane’s rules of etiquette. I could never articulate here some of thoughts and feelings I have about the reform movement because one must abide by rules if one is to remain a guest in the living room, no?
But if you were a fly on the alabaster walls in my home with my wife and me discussing (or shall I say, “disgusting”) the reform movement and so called “reformers” . . . .
Brace yourself.
hee, hee, I agree.
“I believe that public education is a civic responsibilty, not a profit-making opportunity.”
So very true.
And to paraphrase Lincoln:
Indeed, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work” which they who {taught} here {in our public school} have thus far so nobly advanced.
Believe it or not there are legions of teachers who believe in education the way a doctor believes in health. We are very dedicated.
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us” — which is teaching kids for their own good and the good of society at large.
Non mihi, non tibi, non nobis sed omnibus. Not for me alone and not for you alone nor for ourselves alone but for everyone (all mankind)
National unity, teaching people to believe in the common good, peace, freedom and prosperity are not something that is automatic or guaranteed.
And I ask what successful modern society has abandoned public education as a universal goal?
“I believe testing has grown out of control. Higher test scores are not and should not be the goal of education.”
Testing for the sake of testing is not education. Tests should inform and help teachers and students not punish them.
I am glad to know DIANE RAVITCH IS WITH THE GOOD GUYS.
God saved me by leading me to Diane’s blog. It has been so therapeutic to see that other teachers are going through the very same things as I am. I am also so grateful to Diane, the retired educators, the parents, and other professional people who write in to offer advice and share their awesome knowledge. Thank you so much, Diane, and to all of you wonderful people. You have helped me cope almost to the end of a career which I do not recognize anymore. I pray for all of our young educators.
SAD TEACHER; I FEEL ALMOST THE SAME WAY. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY CAREER (I HAVE BEEN TEACHING ALMOST 30 YEARS) I AM THINKING…..I CAN’T WAIT TO RETIRE. I just try to put such thoughts out of my mind and carry on.
Ditto here. The mean-spirited, backstabbing, reality-denying administrators across our school system have succeeded in dividing and conquering. They won’t be successful for long. Just because they THINK they are the privileged class and they BULLY and DEMORALIZE us, they know in their heartless carcases that their days are numbered. How else do you explain their desperation to grab all they can like blindfolded children that smash open the piñata? The pitchforks and torches are already at the castle doors. This generation knows what is going on. They’re not blind.
Agreed! I only lasted three years because the over-testing, lack of a vision, and everything discussed on Diane’s blog wore me out. I couldn’t support my family with the annual decreases in pay.
I pray for our education system to change and become what we all know it can become. Thanks, Diane, for this amazing blog that keeps me connected with a field I love (and hope to work for again in the future).
Sad Teacher: your comments on this blog show courage, self-awareness, and deep compassion for others.
There is so much more to you than what is inside those that only feel big when they try to make folks like you feel small.
And while they might be able to inflict visible wounds, please consider what a genuine American hero once said:
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” [Frederick Douglass]
You are able to something that not a one of the self-proclaimed “reformers” can do except in a delusion: look in the mirror and be proud of the person looking back.
Thank you for all you do.
😎
Grateful. I am very grateful to you for opening doors, windows, eyes, hearts, minds….I never, ever would have imagined I’d be a part of a movement, but am so glad I am on the right side. Thank you and all of the wonderful people here that add to the discussion.
Kudos to you for providing a forum for those that care about the future of public education. We should keep driving traffic here to get the word out to citizens that are not going to get the information posted here from the mainstream media. We should encourage parents to read this blog.
I tell everyone with whom I speak/interact bout education that if they are not reading this blog, they are no where near informed about public education and teaching and learning issues.
Ditto that.
The hits are a mere single indicator of your profound influence. We are a movement. It is underway.
It’s all about the kids from both sides. From their side it’s about kids as future workers, ranked and filed. From our side it’s about kids with infinite potential.
Congratulations! Forgive me for the finger-wagging but I hope you have consulted with those who can help you make sure this blog is preserved for posterity, whether that is by backing it up (and if, so, on what technology) or printing it out.
A couple of weeks ago, when you confessed you had accidently deleted a post, I was both fearful and annoyed. This blog will be an important source for future historians and it should be treated as such.
Congratulations. In addition to studying the history of education, Diane is helping to make it, by targeting the unbelievable frauds of this era, adding other voices to her own, and revitalizing the affirmative case for public education with perfect pitch rhetoric.
Barbara,
What a good idea. I have to make sure I have a back up. Some future historian will learn a lot about the I sanity of our age.
Many thanks to you, Diane!
I can’t imagine doing all that you do in a given day to help folks understand what public education should be about. Such unsurpassed energy. You are an inspiration for all!
As KTA says, keep em coming and I’ll keep reading em (although having been out canoeing for 4 of the last 7 days makes it very hard to catch up and keep up with all the postings-I hate to miss any of them).
Take care,
Duane
Duane,
Thanks for your contributions. Yes, I did read Wilson!
Has anyone created an Opt Out bumper sticker that also donates to the cause? I’m not usually a bumper sticker person, but this issue makes me want to become one. It would be a great way to promote the cause and show solidarity among parents, teachers, community members, etc. Maybe politicians will also see how the movement is growing the more they see their constituents brandishing their Opt Out symbols on the road!
This is a good idea (if not already done by United Opt Out)! Don’t have their website on hand, but Google them. If they’re not doing it, suggest it to Peg. (And the opt out leaders on the state/local levels should be making/distributing them as well {e.g.,in ILL-Annoy we have ILOptOut & Chicago has ChiOptOut}–sure your large cities/state have groups, Kim.)
Thank you Diane! You are a great inspiration. I agree with Richard. You speak for millions when you write, “I believe that public education is a civic responsibility, not a profit-making opportunity.”
Dr. Ravitch,
Thank you for being such a phenomenal advocate for our children and parents.
You state: None of the goals that matter most are measured by standardized tests.
Those were my thoughts as I looked at my granddaughter’s writing-assessment portfolio this weekend. Portfolios are the antitheses of standardized testing; it is authentic. As I look through her attractively illustrated, laminated, and bound portfolio from third grade, I am amazed what it reveals about her writing skills and more. Her mother’s reading nightly in a dramatic way, is paying off. My granddaughter is now in fourth grade and her mother continues to read to her at night which supports her daughter’s writings. My granddaughter’s portfolio has samples of all types of writings including poems: concrete, acrostic, couplet, haiku, and cinquain. Her love of learning is reflected in her poem “School” –“…attendance a pleasure; is awesome, learning is the most fun in the world…”
She drew a picture of a gorilla via adjectives and descriptive phrases; e.g., “…chest pounder, human talk, hungry animal, one and only mighty, artist of the jungle, needs to be free… “ She also drew a picture of a unicorn via adjectives and descriptive phrases; e.g., “…dancing on rainbows, sparkly horns, happy unicorns having fun… “ Her writings certainly reflects a good self-image and a delightful disposition about school and the environment- so very different from those children who aren’t read exciting books to take their minds off of those cramming for tests, the fearful of failure, and the insipid contrived text found in Pearson workbooks.
She writes about the “sleazy lightning thunder storms blowing down trees and shaking houses.” In reporting about the black bear in Feb. 2015 she writes it in the first person – personifying the bear telling how nice looking he is, where he finds comfort, to how interesting he is, “ I don’t mean to brag but… “
The love of writing isn’t nurtured by preparing for the standardized tests. Failing to measure up only destroys a student’s self-image. Instead of repetitive drilling, memorizing, and reading an over abundance of non fiction, teachers should be free to teach. Begin with reading high quality literature books. On the primary level there are countless phenomenal inspiring authors accompanied with talented, creative artists’ illustrations waiting to awe their audience. I can hear my daughter’s voice in my granddaughter’s writings – no, her mother didn’t write them but her mother’s nightly renditions inspired the gusto and creative ideas embedded in her writings.
Mounting select pieces on construction paper; laminating and binding the numerous pieces of writings done at home tells the child that her writing is valued. Plus, her teacher’s respect for my granddaughter’s creations; her teacher did not mare the writings with red marks. There are many ways to correct spelling errors without filling their creations with corrections. (If the writing is done during writer’s workshop, the student can be encouraged to proof reading and rewrite if necessary.)
Like Marie Clay maintains, the teachers need to teach to the children’s strength, connecting their experiences and background to their writings. Because my granddaughter is in a happy environment, has the freedom to explore and make mistakes, is given confidence and is given a feeling of success, she keeps on writing at school and at home.
In first grade her teacher, in compliance with CC, read a book about animal teeth. (Doesn’t that sound exciting! Ugh!) The students were asked to respond in writing expecting a regurgitation of facts. However, my granddaughter wrote a fanciful tale about vampire bat teeth. Instead of a little girl finding money which she anticipated as she reached under her pillow, she found Vampire Teeth! Her story continues with many consequential problems until she and her friend meet a wizard who saves the day. I think that is a fantastic story for a six year old to write. If it weren’t for her mother reading nightly to her daughter, my granddaughter wouldn’t have that rich cache to draw on.
Grandparents can also complement the teacher. When my husband retired he missed the graduate students and stimulating conversations with fellow professors. Being relegated to baby sitting an infant wasn’t what he anticipated retirement to be about. However, he soon found out what joy there was in being his grandson’s private tutor –all day long being together to read, looking up new words via Google, watching and discussing video’s of super heroes on the lap top or TV, building with legos, putting puzzles together, drawing together, visiting the library, museums, the park with all the play equipment, visiting the farm, and squeezing in a visit to the pizza polar or ice cream shop. They became buddies walking hand in hand. Retired grandparents can help fill the void created by Common Core and be a great source for building up background experiences so necessary to achieve in school especially with reading.
Common Core doesn’t allow sufficient time to read, dramatize, and sing daily with the students. I kept asking my grandson when he was in kindergarten what story his teacher read to him; what song did your teacher sing. He couldn’t remember. Common Core is indifferent to developing the affective realm and background knowledge. How many children is Common Core and its aligned standardized testing destroying by steeling story time, art and music time? But the final nail in their coffin is the invalid, daunting, unnecessary standardized test which the politicians and the corporate world mandate.
Sincerely,
Mary DeFalco
This is a blog I cannot go a day without reading and I cannot thank you enough for making such an invaluable clearinghouse of information and idea sharing. So thanks!
You state,
“The goal of education is to develop young people into adults of good character who can think for themselves, make wise choices, and contribute to the betterment of society…
None of the goals that matter most are measured by standardized tests…” This really hits the nail on the head!!
I was talking with a peer and commenting how human beings need unstructured play whether young or old and that this has been harmfully stripped away. It has never been so apparent in all the violence happening with our youth that we humans need to learn social skills and how to handle anger. How can we possibly be “good and caring citizens” if we have not learned social skills.
I can remember playing in the schoolyard as a kid and this is where a lot of foundation for understanding about caring and being a good citizen starts. In the name of “human capital” corporate “ed reform” has created a corporate frenzied environment in the schools with such dog eat dog competition and a constant mantra of “race to the top”. There is constant insecurity and such a structured day that anything joyful is SUCKED RIGHT OUT (like the unstructured play at recess). A teen kills another teen for a completely senseless action… perhaps he accidentally stepped on the other teen’s foot! Young adults are not learning how to deal with anger or frustration – the kind of learning that takes place in the school yard and where children learn to sort out these issues through play first. In the scheme of things, who gives an “f” about how a student performs on a test if that student cannot “perform”in life.
Thanks for all you do!
I created a thread in the St. Louis Post Dispatch current affairs forum about letters they printed by Carl Peterson, former president of the Ferguson Florissant school board…(he makes a lot of the points which are stressed here) and Mary Danforth Steelman who is the founder of an all girls leadership charter. I presented what you said….I thought it was relevant…..I added these words: Maybe 23 million is not that many….I don’t know much about blogs……I think it should make those responsible for PD forums consider providing one dedicated to education. (current affairs covers so many subjects that education posts are often buried less than an hour after being posted.) http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1132432&p=15341054#p15341054
To the owner of this blog: and the hits keep coming…
Deservedly so.
“Diane Ravitch’s blog A site to discuss better education for all.”
There is a subtitle beneath the subtitle that can’t be seen.
“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” [Mark Twain]
Color me and many other people gratified AND astonished.
And grateful.
😎
Diane, thank you for your countless pep talks. Every time I almost lose hope when I read the latest outrage, your words always inspire me. Each day I give your blog address to someone else. At least 20 people have read my copy of Reign of Error. Sorry I cost you some profit! But seriously, and others have said it more eloquently, your words started a movement and I know the so-called reformers fear you. The billionaires buy fake speech. All of us who contribute to this blog have created speech that represents true power–because it comes from our heart.
Diane:
It’s been an honor to participate in this ongoing discussion. It seems long ago that I started here, way too shy at first to post anything, but a voracious reader. And then I made my first post! Whoa! I was posting on Diane Ravitch’s blog!!! I mean, DIANE RAVITCH! 🙂
And then I started posting once every so often, until the day I found your email address and emailed you something. And you responded! Another bigger WHOA!
Diane, you’ve given me courage to be a participant in this discussion. You’ve given me the knowledge to comment to the lies of the education reformers. But most of all, you’ve given me, and thousands of others, the hope that we can bring public education back to be the foundation of this country, and that we can once again bring honor to those who give of themselves to the children of this country.
Jack
Optime!
Thank you Diane for the opportunity to share, reflect, vent and support each other (most of us) on this great blog!
This blog is therapeutic, enlightening, transformational, entertaining, and, at times, frustrating. I have learned so much and have so much more to learn.
‘So grateful!
Thank you, Dr. Ravitch.
The New York Times temporarily grows a conscience:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/business/economy/education-gap-between-rich-and-poor-is-growing-wider.html?referrer=
Dear Dr. Diane Ravitch –
Though your livingroom be virtual, the most important struggle of our time takes place in it daily. As in the French salons of the 19th century, guests have a civilized venue to exchange ideas, discuss philosophy, hone the discussion and plot strategy. I raise my glass to you and all your guests – Cheers! and on to 24!
Please do not give up the good fight! You are so appreciated by we who are feeling demoralized these days. I used to go off to work anticipating the day with gladness. Now I feel weary to some extent. Your information has helped me make sense of what has happened, is happening, and maybe what could happen. I pray the nation wakes up and realizes that if public unions go, the rest will go. Hoping people remember those family stories about what life was like before unions for a lot of people.
“Value Added Model”
A profit I have never seen
That motivates like love
A value there has never been
That people place above
The value of a smile or touch
The value of compassion
The value that is simply much
Much more than just a cash-in
A teacher I have never seen
Who does the job for pay
A teacher there has never been
Who cashes in each day
Love you ,man!
SomeDAMpoet–you are one of the great pleasures (& treasures!) of reading Diane’s blog! (How could I not have mentioned you?!).
Could you PLEASE put your poems together & get a book done?
(I’ll get LOTS of people to buy it–just ask Todd Farley!! &–if allelse fails–I’ll buy a bunch & give them away to participants in professional, retired educators & parent meetings I attend. In fact, I’ll sell them for you at ILL-Annoy ed.conferences I go to numerous times during the year.)
Would love it if you’d do readings at the next N.P.E. Conference!
Thanks for the support and inspiration!
I have learned a great deal from the folks who comment on this blog and consider myself a sort of “channel” — kind of like Shirley MacLaine (though obviously not for the dead)
I actually did put together a “book” (A DAMthology of Deform) of sorts a while back.
I will be the first to admit it’s not much to look at (just a pdf), but I really don’t have the patience to go through the “book publishing” process.
Send links to your friends and colleagues or make copies and hand them out if you like.
Thanks Diane, for your dedication and wisdom.
“I believe our schools can be much better. But first we must free ourselves from the stranglehold of testing and school choice. ”
Though I do not see this as necessarily “first.” There are many improvements we can make, and should make, in the meantime. It will be a while before we are free of these strangleholds. Wouldn’t you agree?
This is “first” for a reason. Testing has narrowed the curriculum and increased test prep. School choice drains funds from public schools and gives taxpayer money to those who seek profits through charter schools which have no accountability.
You go, Girl!
I see the logic behind it, but the sentence, as written, implies that little else can be done to improve our schools until this “first step” is accomplished. I do not believe that is true. I’m inclined to believe Diane does not either, but I do not really know. So I was hoping for clarification.
We are not powerless until we become free of testing and choice. There are many things we can do differently, tomorrow, under the same restrictions, to make school better for our students.
Sorry to nitpick on your anniversary post…
And sorry for the double post in the wrong spot 😡 feel free to delete
Ed, we are not powerless. It is necessary, however, to have a vision if good education and fight for it. It is also necessary to stop doing the wrong things.
Well we certainly agree on that! But I will not be holding my breath for the testing and privatization regimes to end anytime soon. We need a strategy in the short term, too, for improving our practice and our schools. For me, this means the first step is being a better teacher and person tomorrow than I was yesterday. If everyone thought like this, I feel our schools would improve quickly, without any clearance needed from the big suits. And we can still work to end testing and misuse of public funds.
Thank you for this blog where I can share these thoughts.
We cannot give up. The excrement has hit the fan, and the people are waking up, and so are the teachers.
Please, Diane, wake up Bernie Sander’s campaign to this… I am nobody and cannot get through. He has to know the conspiracy. He has a voice, and even if he does not get the nomination his voice will be important. I believe in him, and in YOU.
Susan, you’re another one–great posts, & so glad you mentioned Bernie. Of course, I’m working w/his campaign (meaning, we, the people!). For those of you who are NEA members, Fred Klonsky just had a blog post about a possible, early NEA endorsement next week
(& Fred & Mike are more of those brilliant minds–in fact, there’s a post here from Mike after this one). If Lily tries to say that the rank-&-file were “polled” (as Randi did)–nope–didn’t happen. Therefore, I urge all of you who are NEA members to e-mail & call the NEA & tell them NOT to early endorse. (In fact, I participated in a
national call for union members/leaders w/Bernie last Wed. night {he spoke for a very brief while}, & the gist {in addition to asking for volunteers} was for us to ask {I say TELL} union/assn. leaders to NOT early endorse anyone, but to wait until the IA & NH primaries & debates–first Dem debate on Oct. 13th.
Therefore, PLEASE contact the NEA asap, & tell Lily, “NO early endorsement!”
Bernie 2016, because, yes WE can!
I agree.bTW, if you want my private email, message me at my author’s Page
http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
at Oped news, and be sure you tell me your Ravitch ‘handle.”
sue
Diane -thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of all our children. We knew when test and punishment was initiated it was not going to help our students become successful learners. We were hopeful with a new administration that things would change–we never guessed that change would make the test more high stakes for teachers and students. I am concerned for all the young teachers who already want to change careers. I am concerned for the future of public education.
Together with the pervious comments of gratitude and support, I add my own. While I’ve been reading this Blog daily from the beginning, I rarely comment. I’m not an expert on the topics discussed here. I read to learn. Earlier, Reign of Error and Death and Life of the American School System inspired and prompted me to sound the alarm to those in my field of expertise: music teachers, scholars, and researchers. Some have told me that “We’re not being tested, Common Core does not apply to us.” Of course, wrong. I bring this matter to attention here because we need all the voices, especially those who only sing to each other. Traditionally music teaching and learning communities have been quite insular, but today, privatization, standardization, and accountability are threats to teachers’ positions and the continuation of music programs. Already, testing is pushing out time for music, art, even recess. Furthermore,I argue that the students we teach are the same children who come to us subjugated by multiple-choice and short-answer thinking, and formulaic writing practices. All teachers and parents must be concerned that conformity and uniformity will shape children’s experience of learning and that they will lose their individuality, imagination, and spirit for invention. I’ve written about these and related topics recently published by Roman & Littlefield in cooperation with the National Association for Music Education (who’ve yet to list it on their website). On a positive note, there are many progressive music education programs throughout the nation, in particular, Teachers College, Columbia University. And finally this from the Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better – it’s not.
I’d (and if I can be presumptuous, all of us would) like to read more of your responses, dannette, please join in!
Many thanks, Duane.
A heartfelt “Thank you!” for this encouraging and informational blog, Diane. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude for your perseverance in putting our children, who are our national treasures, first. Post by post, that 23 million are getting the voices in the educational world’s wilderness heard. The deafening silence is broken, with many small, but growing in number victories. What difference you have made in our lives!
What a lovely tribute and testament to your intelligence, erudition and perseverance, Diane, are the 23mil views and comments below. Hopefully, public education will survive and, if it manages to do so, that will be largely due to your efforts and to the space your blog has given to us to exclaim, expound and applaud (occasionally!). Thank you for welcoming us onto your humble abode; you are a true hero!
To Arne’s latest hurrah, a great big Bronx cheer.
For Arne’s final year, let it rain opt-outs!
Let opt-outs reign!
“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light…” – D. Thomas.
As Diane Ravitch goes viral, so does this Common Core check.
The fodder of funny:
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/frustrated-dad-writes-check-son-school-common-core-article-1.2370899
Congratulations! And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. When major news outlets and the USDOE were either silent or spouting punitive and denigrating nonsense, you spoke out and helped me keep my sanity! I’m retired now, still can’t believe what has been happening to public education, but I am incredibly heartened that more and more are speaking out and taking action. And it’s because of you. When you started this blog, you provided a much needed nationwide forum with critical analysis and vital info at a time when public education was imploding and, unbelievably (at least to me), nobody was talking about it! You’ve connected the dots, from state to state to state. Today I think of you as a touchstone for all that is and can be good in public education. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Terrific. As Buzz Lightyear says, “To infinity and BEYOND!”
Congrats, Diane. I hope I contribute in my very small and special way!
Btw, I have one word for you – AdWords! You should include google advertising on your blog. It’s not hard to include and most of the ads are based on what your readers are interested in. I recall shopping at an online clothing retailer one time. Then, I noticed that retailer’s ads showing up on every other website I visited. Turns out they placed cookies on my computer and the advertisers knew I was most likely to revisit stores from which I previously purchased.
In any case, you don’t have to choose the advertisers as they will change based on the person who visits your site. Now admittedly, a lot of your readers may get sent ads for places like this, but some might even get ads for great statesmen like this or this. You can use all that money to keep promoting the union interests! There are really no losers.
Any bets on when you surpass 24 million hits?
Virginia,
I have received many solicitations asking me to place advertising on my blog. I delete at once. Can you figure out why?
Must be who he consults for.
More grammatically: Must be for whom he consults.
Diane, I honestly don’t know why. I understand you don’t want to be “bought and paid for” by a particular advertiser. But that’s not how most advertising on the web works today. You don’t actually choose which ads are placed on those page sections. It’s based on the user’s interests. Socialists will get campaign ads from Bernie Sanders. Capitalists will get ads from Republicans. You just collect royalties from generating the traffic. Are you that opposed to capitalism to use it to fund your agenda?
Christine Langhoff, why do you think I consult for an ad firm? I’m just a parent fed with ineffective teachers and lying school officials who commit fraud left and right. I have no financial interests related to school reform whatsoever. Well, I do have lots of $$$ invested in my lawsuit but I just get cost returned when I win.
Virginia, you won’t understand this but I will try. I get paid to write articles in places like the Néw York Review of Books. I get paid to lecture, because it takes time to prepare and I have to travel and I get more requests than I can comply with. Often I give my speaking fees to the Network for Oublic Education or Class Size Matters.
But my articles are online for free, my books are in the library for free, many of my lectures are online, for free.
I don’t want advertising on the blog because I blog for my own satisfaction, not for money. I blog because I want to. Fortunately I don’t need the money. I am doing what I want to do.
I didn’t think you would understand.
One of the reasons I don’t post every comment you make is that the purpose of the blog is to build a movement against reforms that reduce children and teachers to objects. I see them as human beings. You fight our movement to reclaim the humane purposes of education.
Where I try to bring hope and succor to demoralized educators, you bring defeatism, sarcasm, and contempt.
I let you post your comments from time to time, but I delete those that are intended to debase and degrade teachers. This is not censorship. This is my exercise of discretion about what I want on my blog.
Diane, I would say it meets the definition of censorship but it’s totally your prerogative. As I’ve said before, I learn more from your blog than almost anywhere else. I’m not suggesting you would pocket the money (fine by me if you did), but simply monetize those eyeballs for whatever purpose you see fit including your advocacy organizations. I just wasn’t sure if you understood that placing an ad engine on your blog wouldn’t mean you have to choose advertisers since the users themselves determine the ads. Your choice again.
As to my intentions, I’m sure you notice when I give your readers suggestions. If you propose critiques that neither side can refute, then they are much more likely to be enacted. Take the Lederman/NY SGP evaluation piece. Maybe you want SGPs to play an even bigger role than their nominal 50% so you can overturn the entire policy. But as it stands right now, those SGPs count for about 70% of the teacher evaluations, not the 50% espoused. Here’s why.
Teachers will receive a virtual minimum score on the non-SGP portion of the eval. Say out of 20 pts, they are virtually assured of 10-12 of those. On the SGPs, it is scaled from 0-20. Most of the variation comes from SGPs. However, nobody denies that kids learn something in even the most ineffective teacher classrooms. Instead of 12 months of learning, maybe they only receive 6 months. But why would that teacher get a 0 on the SGP? Couldn’t you argue that the teacher should get a similar score to the observation piece, maybe in the 8-12 range? If that were the case, then the SGPs would have much less of an effect on the outcomes. The reformers cannot deny this fact. SGPs in NY effectively count for far greater than 50% right now. The Gates Foundation never said that VAMs should count for more than 50% in their MET study. A similar critique on the validity of computer vs paper/pencil tests can be made. Maybe you will use these to improve the system. Maybe you have other plans.
But congrats on the hits. That is a lot of users. I wonder how many of them think Bernie Sanders is way too conservative?
Virginia,
Your obsession with VAM is over the top. I have said before and say again that I consider as illegitimate any use of VAM beyond the 14% in the American Statistical Association. More than that is junk science. VAM has created a national shortage, along with the derogatory rhetoric from reformers, the media, and you.
So please, no more about VAM. I put it in the same category as claims that the US government sponsored 9/11, Sandy Hook never happened, etc.
Give it a rest. I won’t post any more of your rants about bad teachers. You can find other blogs that welcome them.
Thank you Diane. !
Go, Diane!