Diane Ravitch Interview

Diane Ravitch (Death and Life of the Great American School System) was interviewed tonight by Steve Hargadon. A few memorable comments:

• On Waiting for Superman: "fundamentally dishonest" with a fuller review here and in the New York Review of Books.
• There are no easy answers… [in public education] have to educate students one at a time and take in all that come.
• A massive fraud against children
• On Bill Gates: "destructive influence"
• Privatization is not good for democracy, not good for teachers, not good for children
• Management has a moral obligation to create a system where people can find joy in their work
• Going backwards and dumbing whole country down… soul of education is being crushed
• Need national leadership… improved teacher education and preparation … respect for teachers as professionals

Once the archive is posted, listen to the hour discussion and see the context in which those comments were made.

And here are links to most of the books and authors mentioned:
Mistakes were Made;
Charter School Performance In New York City (from Credo);
Great School Wars (Ravitch);
Man Who Discovered Quality by Gabor on W. Edwards Deming;
Measuring up – What Educational Testing Really Tells Us by Koretz;
Plus works by Carol Dweck and by Jennifer Fox; a recent post in Psychology Today the Educator’s PLN.

Looking forward to our book group discussion of Death and Life of the Great American School System next week.