The Death and Life of the Great American School System

This book is extremely informative on issues and events that regards to education. It is an in-depth look on every major event and advocates for education. Overall great book and I highly recommend it.

Every legislator who thinks they know how to improve education should be required to read this book. As a retired educator, I was happy to find the facts and statistics to prove what I always knew intuitively. What was especially illuminating was the author debunking the number (and student) juggling which has been unfortunately offered as "proof" of the "success" of vouchers, testing and choice. Real reform has been hampered by ill-conceived state mandates which then require scarce resources be allocated to fulfill them at the expense of basic programs. If reform were easy and guaranteed, we would have great student achievement now. Enacting the solid suggestions the author proffers would be a giant leap in the right direction. She had the integrity to revisit what she thought she knew, admit she had been swayed by the arguments of others, and then change her mind when she saw that results were counter to the aim. If only legislators would do the same! I recommend this book to every parent, educator and legislator in the nation.

I have read this book several times and although I am not a teacher (my parents were teachers), I have very strong opinions about education and "Race to the Top". Diane Ravitch has written a brilliant tome about why we are going in the wrong direction in terms of education and sadly, we are in the process of destroying the middle class in doing so. This book is the antidote to such drivel as "Waiting for Superman." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

We're in trouble...big trouble...that starts with T, which rhymes with D, and that stands for Diane. Diane Ravitch has done it again. Painted a picture of a very bleak future for American education if our communities, parents, teachers, and credentialed education leaders don't wrest control of our schools back from the pseudo-government bodies, foundations, and entrepreneurs whose plans to "improve" education begin and end with their bank accounts or their publicists' bank accounts.

Diane, with whom I had the pleasure of working at the Department of Education under Lamar Alexander, takes on the "teach-to-the-testers" of the No Child Left Behind Act, and the muddle-headed quasi-educators who, unworried about their lack of actual education credentials, are wreaking havoc on our schools, from New York to San Diego. Where once America's school teachers were actually imparting knowledge about math, English, geography, history, the arts and sciences, and music, now only math and English seem to garner any interest from the reformers who are dismantling schools at a clip as nearly as rapid as a machine gun on full auto. Segregation in our schools is alive and well, though disguised under a variety of rubrics meant to distract communities from the troubling intent of reformers who cherry pick the best students, put them in schools tailored to their abilities, and leave the students who don't measure up to corporate standards to fend for themselves in left-behind schools.

Who is losing? Our children and our communities--along with our country's potential to be competitive in today's and tomorrow's global marketplace of ideas, products, services, and security. Dr. Ravitch's book is filled with neon-light-bright warnings of a nation again at risk of failure to educate. Read this one, and then take action.

This book is an essential read for anyone who cares to understand all the educational reform that has taken place in the U.S. Ravitch is brilliant in her thoughtful approach to understanding reform and its implications.

Some things you read make you want grab the shoulders of anyone within reach and yell, “Dammit, pay attention to this!” This is one of those times. Diane Ravitch may well be America’s preeminent civic educator; her prism is education, but her writing exposes seminal truths about the U.S. She explains the history and politics of public education during the past few decades and how the issue has been one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement over that span—to the detriment of the nation. Americans and readers around the world trying to make sense of contemporary U.S. politics should consider picking up this masterful analysis and call to action. This edition is substantially revised and updated from the 2009 edition; so if you read that one, get this too.

Ravitch exposes school choice as a ruse that, far from giving parents options, actually allows charter and voucher schools to cherry pick students to raise their cumulative test scores. As these schools rob money and resources from public schools, they are left with the task of educating children with developmental and learning disabilities as well as poorer and lower achieving students who, ironically, require more resources and nurturing, not less. Yet, the U.S. is “one of the few nations in the world that spend more on affluent students than on poor students.” These policies also create de facto segregation. “Yet,” as Ravitch concludes, “‘reformers’ choose to ignore poverty and segregation and pretend they don’t matter.” Indeed, choice policies are “no substitute for medical care, good jobs, adequate nutrition, sound housing, and safe communities” which impact every student’s potential.

As Ravitch makes clear throughout this book, American public education is arguably the most important institution that has sustained the U.S. throughout its history. Public schools are much more than centers of learning. “The basic responsibility of public education is to develop a sense of citizenship, an understanding of democracy, and a readiness to help improve one’s community and society.” Healthy communities are built around healthy public schools. Yet, for many policymakers and profiteers, schools and students have become commodities to reap short term economic profit. “No other high performing nation in the world” does the things that are being done to public education in the U.S. Rather than use education policy to value children as investments in our nation’s future, policy in the U.S. has put public education’s very existence at stake. And to make it even worse, the nation has now elected a president, Congress, state legislatures, and local governments who might destroy it. That is why Ravitch’s explanations and arguments are more important than ever. Dammit, pay attention to this!

This book, which was recently chosen as the most influential education book of the decade, is a brilliant and eloquent critique of the fads and experiments that have been imposed on our public schools by the Billionaire Boy's Club of Bill Gates, Eli Broad and the other corporate CEOs and privatisers who now dominate education policy in this country. Their policies -- increased emphasis on standardized testing and the expansion of charter schools -- have no backing in the research and no support among key stakeholders, educators and parents whose views have been alternatively attacked and ignored.

If there is anyone who will save public education in this nation, it is Diane Ravitch -- and she should be given the Medal of Honor for being out there everyday, leading the charge.

I am a veteran teacher who had experienced NCLB as it has unfolded. This book speaks the truth about what has happened with this horrific law and how it has undermined the direction for the education of our precious children. Teachers are no longer respected as professionals to do the work they know is right for our kids. She has done her homework on the effects of NCLB and presents extensive data to prove it. It is astounding how foundations have affected the direction of our public schools in attempt to run our schools as businesses with choice and accountability. She is the voice for change!!

"Education is too important to relinquish to the vagaries of the market and the good intentions of amateurs." The Death and Life of the American School System, "Billionaire Boys Club," page 222
I am an admitted amateur [that had the] the good intentions of teaching after my high tech career went bust in 2003, desperate to do ANY job. Part of the cycle that has become American teacher education via the Alternative Teacher Certification programs that abound (I won't mention the one I was in).
I can no longer support the ACP system (see expound on "amateurs" below). Dr. Ravitch's book is a revelation to American education in that she steadfastly promotes it as a profession, not a byproduct of the free market.
I took and passed the state certification exam for a Math/Physics teacher. It was a natural outgrowth of my previous life experiences as physics major in college and engineer in the semiconductor industry.
When I read the words "good intentions of amateurs," I winced and almost cried aloud (the complete antithesis of William Earnest Henley's "Invictus"). I had received the "bludgeoning of chance" on a daily Monday - Friday basis: trying to teach physics or tutor math to a group of teens more interested in their social networks and "tweets" than any physical laws, confiscating enough mobile devices to populate a landfill.
Amateurs settle for teaching; educators' goal for it. Amateurs find themselves in career transition and take a simple state exam; educators plan for it almost from first steps. Amateurs sit in air conditioned hotel rooms and watch video and power point presentations - ahem, our "training" - and send their scaled down one-page resumes to school districts unsuspecting of our amateur status. Amateurs stand aghast in urban school classes, wondering how to "manage" them, since neither reason nor bribes work very long. Nor does my physical presence as a former engineer: "if it was so good, mister, why aren't you still doing it?" Once idealistic amateurs teach to the test since little other time is allotted in a 50 minute per class classroom day; educators are realists and manage their classrooms effectively.
Would I want someone that took an "alternative route" to being an engineer: someone that bypassed the physics, calculus, differential equations, computer programming? Would I have respect for that person/empathy for their plight of lack of problem-solving skills, or any real project completed in a year's time of evaluation? Would such a person feel intimidated, and eventually exit the profession?
50% of new teachers leave the profession after five years with no intention of returning to it. If the teaching profession were truly driven by "market forces," such a turnover would not be tolerated! It would be measured; compared to times past, S.M.A.R.T. goals: specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and timely would be set, timelines established and a stated deadline on when the problem is solved. The "political" market promotes charter schools and school choice, with no evidence in any other nations that such a solution has been pursued successfully. Thankfully and for the benefit of our current educational complex, I've become part of that statistic three years earlier, making my way back to high tech in East Fishkill, NY.
Teachers are the weakest group politically; thereby good punching bags, and no high-priced lawyers to lobby their cases with legislators.
Dr. Ravitch makes some excellent points about the perils of high stakes testing in her narrative. My only complaint is that this wisdom is not widely disseminated as the cinema antonym of "Waiting for Superman." Perhaps a documentary of this book to counter "Superman" would give it wider exposure and spur second order sales. I'd pay to see it, because it is high time teaching became a profession again. Our country and our democracy depend on it.

Probably the most accurate, thoughtful, and easy to understand book on the Education "Reform" movement that has gripped our nation. This is an important book. Years from now it will be known as the voice of reason in an age when this country turned its back on public education.

"Education is too important to relinquish to the vagaries of the market and the good intentions of amateurs." The Death and Life of the American School System, "Billionaire Boys Club," page 222
I am an admitted amateur [that had the] the good intentions of teaching after my high tech career went bust in 2003, desperate to do ANY job. Part of the cycle that has become American teacher education via the Alternative Teacher Certification programs that abound (I won't mention the one I was in).
I can no longer support the ACP system (see expound on "amateurs" below). Dr. Ravitch's book is a revelation to American education in that she steadfastly promotes it as a profession, not a byproduct of the free market.
I took and passed the state certification exam for a Math/Physics teacher. It was a natural outgrowth of my previous life experiences as physics major in college and engineer in the semiconductor industry.
When I read the words "good intentions of amateurs," I winced and almost cried aloud (the complete antithesis of William Earnest Henley's "Invictus"). I had received the "bludgeoning of chance" on a daily Monday - Friday basis: trying to teach physics or tutor math to a group of teens more interested in their social networks and "tweets" than any physical laws, confiscating enough mobile devices to populate a landfill.
Amateurs settle for teaching; educators' goal for it. Amateurs find themselves in career transition and take a simple state exam; educators plan for it almost from first steps. Amateurs sit in air conditioned hotel rooms and watch video and power point presentations - ahem, our "training" - and send their scaled down one-page resumes to school districts unsuspecting of our amateur status. Amateurs stand aghast in urban school classes, wondering how to "manage" them, since neither reason nor bribes work very long. Nor does my physical presence as a former engineer: "if it was so good, mister, why aren't you still doing it?" Once idealistic amateurs teach to the test since little other time is allotted in a 50 minute per class classroom day; educators are realists and manage their classrooms effectively.
Would I want someone that took an "alternative route" to being an engineer: someone that bypassed the physics, calculus, differential equations, computer programming? Would I have respect for that person/empathy for their plight of lack of problem-solving skills, or any real project completed in a year's time of evaluation? Would such a person feel intimidated, and eventually exit the profession?
50% of new teachers leave the profession after five years with no intention of returning to it. If the teaching profession were truly driven by "market forces," such a turnover would not be tolerated! It would be measured; compared to times past, S.M.A.R.T. goals: specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and timely would be set, timelines established and a stated deadline on when the problem is solved. The "political" market promotes charter schools and school choice, with no evidence in any other nations that such a solution has been pursued successfully. Thankfully and for the benefit of our current educational complex, I've become part of that statistic three years earlier, making my way back to high tech in East Fishkill, NY.
Teachers are the weakest group politically; thereby good punching bags, and no high-priced lawyers to lobby their cases with legislators.
Dr. Ravitch makes some excellent points about the perils of high stakes testing in her narrative. My only complaint is that this wisdom is not widely disseminated as the cinema antonym of "Waiting for Superman." Perhaps a documentary of this book to counter "Superman" would give it wider exposure and spur second order sales. I'd pay to see it, because it is high time teaching became a profession again. Our country and our democracy depend on it.

Probably the most accurate, thoughtful, and easy to understand book on the Education "Reform" movement that has gripped our nation. This is an important book. Years from now it will be known as the voice of reason in an age when this country turned its back on public education.

A pivotal work that is changing America's understanding of our public schools. Together with her new book, Reign of Error, these books will end privatization and corporatization of America's schools, and the for profit, not for kids evil that is destroying so many futures.

This was a fabulous book! As a parent and elementary school volunteer, I have some opinions about my son's education at our neighborhood public elementary school. This book gave me depth of understanding about the important issues that I have hands-on experience with and that directly affect my son's education, as well as the other schools in our urban school district--some of which are undergoing closure and "redesign" as a result of No Child Left Behind. I feel empowered by what I learned from Dianne Ravitch, am invigorated to read more widely about education policy and to become an active advocate for real improvement in our public schools--and not just higher scores on standardized tests.

After 35 years as an educator in Arizona, I retired a year ago. I spent the last 15 years of my career as both an elementary and high school principal. Before No Child Left Behind came along, my very collaborative staff and I had initiated our own reforms, made possible by the use of Title 1 monies. As a Title 1 elementary school,using our own reforms,we soon had the highest scores in our district--although not all of the schools were Title 1 schools (meaning that a high percentage of students lived in poverty).

Then No Child Left Behind came along and hijacked our reform efforts. Mandates required us to spend our time on irrelevant tasks and proving that we were doing what we were already doing. (That's the definition of "accountability" under NCLB and Obama's Race to the Top.) We already had achieved the results NCLB was looking for. Every 1st and 2nd grader (except the few with disabilities) was on grade level or better in reading and math. As these students moved into 3rd and 4th grade, our reforms would ensure that they would remain on grade level as they went through the elementary grades. But our most important resource -- time -- was diverted into meaningless activities.

I transferred to the high school about that time. All we did was dance to the state department of ed's interpretation of NCLB- many false starts, much wasted time. I used to tell my staff that I was Alice wandering around in Wonderland where everything is topsy turvy. Nothing we did made any sense. We were not in control of our own destiny-- we no longer had the ability to enact our own reforms for our own unique school population. Too much change was mandated at one time. Incoherence reigned. So much wasted time and money!

I retired in December of 2009. I had never heard of Diane Ravitch or her book -- I had been too busy to be able to check out the world outside my school. I had planned to write my own book about my experiences down the rabbit hole. To my amazement, someone had already chronicled every single, meaningless thing my schools and I had experienced. Diane had gotten it right -- without one false note.She had written MY story. I attest to that. I reiterate --not one false note, not one exaggerated statement is in this book.

If you want to know why teachers are enraged, read this book. If you want to know what's most likely going on in your child's classroom -- not real learning, not critical thinking skills, no time for discussions, no recess, no time for science and social studies because under NCLB, these sujects are not tested -- read this book and then take action. Unless your child attends a school with brave,savvy teachers and a like-minded principal, your child is not getting a real education.

Although there is always room for improvement, the majority of schools in America function well. Initiating such broad and punitive reforms across the entire country was not necessary. And in doing so, Congress has unintentionally caused the dismantling of our public education system, which, I believe, is one of the bedrocks of our democracy. We know how to identify the schools that are not doing well. The remedies for each of those schools need to be appropriate for each particular school. There is no one remedy that will fit each situation. Some of these schools may indeed have ineffective or unwilling teachers. Some of them may have wonderful teachers, but the reasons for their problems are unique -- and thus the solutions for each one must be unique as well.

Diane, it is true, was an architect of No Child Left Behind. When the bill passed in Congress, many educators, including myself, rejoiced because we really did need the extra funding. But we had unknowingly made a pact with the devil. Diane was one of the first to take notice. Her courage is amazing. Knowing that she would become a pariah and no longer be able to keep her position at the Department of Ed, she spoke the truth regardless of the consequences to her own professional life.

NCLB has not resulted in real and meaningful school reform. When it implodes -- and it will because the seeds of its own destruction were there in its inception --- Diane, one of the authors of NCLB, will ironically be the author of its demise.The date of its death? Unknown but not uncertain. She is our Tiresias, who like all of us, was once blind, but now she sees -- and she tells only the truth. Listen to this wise woman.Do not listen to her defamers, who give her such silly and untrue motives for admitting she was wrong and taking a stand. Read her book and then join us at [...] and help us bring the demise of NCLB and Race to the Top to an even faster conclusion.
Katherine Cox
[...]

Diane Ravitch covers the entire spectrum of reform efforts and her evaluations are thoroughly referenced. This book is a startling revelation that our schools do not work and will not as long as a business model is used to evaluate students and teachers. Testing and choice are pushing out all of the other courses through which students can truly become educated. This is a must read for every educator, administrator, politician, school board member, and parent. Without the knowledge contained in Ravitch's book, wrong decisions are going to be made.

As a public school teacher I often find myself wondering how all the initiatives, programs and grand plans come about. At the classroom level most of these programs seem short sighted and not designed to actually help the students. I was intrigued by the authors appearance on "The Daily Show" and her columns on CNN.com. This book provides some interesting insight into the process behind all the current national programs and the resulting affects in several notable school districts. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a stake in public schools (here's a hint that's everyone).

Every single politician as well as any person involved in education policy decisions should read this as a matter of conscience. I would also recommend it to boards of education and college students in the field of education.

This book exposes the challenges that public educators have to battle everyday. Politicians and business leaders have hijacked local control of public education and make impossible demands. Being an educated citizen is more than doing math well and reading, but that has become the focus of the entire school. This is what you children face in school everyday when they go to school. I recommend this book to anyone who is concerned with education in America today.

After reading a number of very positive reviews, I'm quite disappointed with this book (The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diana Ravitch). While there are many good ideas in the book, it's excruciatingly repetitive, poorly organized, and fails to persuade.

I bought this book after reading Dave Ellison's column in the Daily Review on Monday. Ellison's column about the book and its author led me to post a blog entry. Ellison wrote (in part) that Ravitch's "wrenching transformation" from supporter to opponent (of merit-pay based on high-stakes-testing, school choice, and performance-based business-like management of schools) was based on data, and certainly Ravitch does offer up some helpful data to support her conclusion that various "school reform" strategies have failed to produce improvements in education. But there's really nothing new here, and I don't expect this book to "convert" anyone who previously disagreed with Ravitch's views (which are clearly very similar to Dave Ellison's views and my own views).

In fact, I didn't really perceive a "wrenching transformation" by the author; perhaps the transformation was so complete that she wasn't able to clearly articulate her earlier views. While reading the book, I felt that Ms. Ravitch's earlier support of particular school reforms was not very strong, and she mostly "went along" with the views of others on the topics of high-stakes testing, school choice, and business-like management of schools. Her real passion seems to be curriculum and instruction, and her "transformation" seems mostly to be a realization that popular reform movements (specifically, evaluating teachers primarily based on student test scores) had ruined or eliminated the curriculum that matters so much to her.

Throughout the book, Ravitch repeats and recycles many of the same facts, analysis, and conclusions, over and over, again and again. Of course, it makes sense to "remind" or "refresh" readers when making a new connection to earlier material in a text, but that's not the problem. Instead, each chapter appears to be written to stand alone. (At times, I even wondered if the book was simply a collection of columns or essays that she'd written over the past year or two, but I can't find any support for this theory.) Perhaps Ravitch recognizes that many readers won't have time to read the entire book, and thus she wants each chapter to be meaningful and "complete," even if read in isolation from the rest of the book. (In fact, a number of logical and rhetorical contradictions are apparent when reading the entire book.)

I must stress: I agree with nearly all the ideas and arguments in Ravitch's book. And she makes many very strong arguments (but unfortunately, without much persuasive evidence or data). My frustration comes not just from the painful amount of repetition, but from frustration that Ravitch's arguments simply don't seem likely to persuade anyone who doesn't already share her views.

In the end, I simply found myself wishing for a much shorter, better-organized summary of the ideas discussed in this book.

This book is a must read for everyone interested in education. Even if you do not agree with everything Dr. Ravitch has to say, her perspective as a historian and educational researcher is invaluable.

This book tells the largely untold story of the power and money behind the educational reform movement. This should be required reading for every parent, teacher, administrator, and board member in the country.

Diane has done a masterful job of taking a complex and potentially overwhelming issue and placed it in a simple and readable historical context. As an educator with foerty years in public education, I, too, am concerned about NCLB and potential future reform of schools, it is comforting to know someone like Diane, with her vast experiences, has the same guarded view of what has been happening in public education over the past decades.

This book illuminates the path that education assessment and evaluation has taken to get to the current situation of absurd testing requirements that do not truly assess quality of student learning but displace it. Most troubling is the evidence presented that the model studies on which this is based are all flawed. The book is long with some repetition. This is fine as it will serve as a great future reference. Anyone that seeks to challenge the assumptions of NCLB or the accusations of teachers being the problem should have this book as their constant companion.