New York University
Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Undermine Education. A former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, from 1991-1993 she served as Assistant Secretary of Education.
Using Standardized Student Testing to Measure Teacher Performance The anti-education reformer Diane Ravitch tells us what she thinks is wrong with standardized student testing to measure teacher performance.
Chicago Teachers' Strike The Chicago school strike is a struggle between education reformers and unionized teachers. Now in its third day, the issues will look familiar in other cities, including Los Angeles. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has taken the side of school reformers against a teachers' union he accuses of being resistant to change. We look at the national implications and the possible consequences for the November election.
Chicago School Strike The Chicago school strike is into its third day, a struggle between education reformers and unionized teachers. The issues will look familiar in other cities around the country. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has taken the side of schools reformers against a teachers' union he accuses of being resistant to change. We look at the national implications and the possible consequences for the November election.
Pineapplegate and Privatizing Public Schools On a standardized test this month, New York's 8th graders were asked about a pineapple that challenges a hare to a race. Since the pineapple can't move, forest animals suspect it has a trick up its sleeve and they bet on it to win. But the hare wins — and the animals eat the pineapple. The moral is: pineapples don't have sleeves. That story and the questions kids were asked about it are so obviously stupid that education officials have announced they won't count in official scoring. Others see it as prime evidence of what's wrong with education reform. Are public schools being privatized at increased cost to taxpayers and the quality of education itself?
Public Education and Private Profit In six or seven states, kids were asked ridiculous questions on a standardized test. Then, New York's 8th graders were asked about a pineapple that challenges a hare to a race. Since the pineapple can't move, forest animals suspect it has a trick up its sleeve and bet on it to win. But the hare wins and the animals eat the pineapple. The moral is: pineapples don't have sleeves. The story — and the four questions kids were asked about it -- are so obviously stupid that education officials have announced they won't count in official scoring. The resulting ridicule helped fuel the growing backlash against No Child Left Behind and other education "reforms" based on tests devised by private corporations. Parents' and teachers' groups, and some churches, are among those complaining that education is being sacrificed to the profit motive at public expense. What are the consequences for taxpayers and — more important — for students?
Should Teacher Evaluations Be Public Information? Evaluations of teachers based on student test scores have been made public in New York and Los Angeles . Will that make public schools better or worse? Warren Olney explores whether teachers will be shamed, fired or leave the profession for the wrong reasons.
Should Teacher Evaluations Be Public Information? Two years ago, teacher evaluations were made public after the Los Angeles Times filed a Freedom of Information request. Last year in New York, education officials asked reporters to do the same thing. They did and, after a legal battle, teacher rankings have been made public there too. The teacher rankings -- based on student test scores -- are highly controversial. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says, "silence is not an option" in getting rid of substandard teachers. But Bill Gates warns that, " shame is not the solution ." Even developers of so-called "value added" assessments say the tests are "inaccurate, unstable and unreliable" as predictors of future performance. Do parents still have a right to know? Are teachers being scape-goated for the failures of public schools?
Education, State Finance and Teacher Bashing Between education reformers and union busters, teachers feel like they're "crying in the wilderness, or perhaps just crying." That's according to Kay McSpadden, who teaches high school English in a rural South Carolina and author of Notes from a Classroom : Reflections on Teaching. Will bashing teachers improve education? Are they being scape-goated for conditions they didn't create and can't change?
Education, State Finance and Teacher Bashing The top priority for most Americans is education, and public school teachers around the country say the past two years have been a nightmare. Reformers, from the President on down, are pushing to abolish seniority, hold teachers accountable for student performance and even close some schools altogether. Has that paved the way for teachers to become punching bags for Republican Governors who want to balance budgets and bust public sector unions? Will bashing teachers improve education? Are they being scape-goated for conditions they didn't create and can't change?
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
