As an education historian and former assistant secretary of education,
Ravitch has witnessed the trends in public education over the past 40
years and has herself swung from public-school advocate to
market-driven accountability and choice supporter back to public-school
advocate. With passion and insight, she analyzes research and draws on
interviews with educators, philanthropists, and business executives to
question the current direction of reform of public education. In the
mid-1990s, the movement to boost educational standards failed on
political concerns; next came the emphasis on accountability with its
reliance on standardized testing. Now educators are worried that the No
Child Left Behind mandate that all students meet proficiency standards
by 2014 will result in the dismantling of public schools across the
nation. Ravitch analyzes the impact of choice on public schools,
attempts to quantify quality teaching, and describes the data wars with
advocates for charter and traditional public schools. Ravitch also
critiques the continued reliance on a corporate model for school reform
and the continued failure of such efforts to emphasize curriculum.
Conceding that there is no single solution, Ravitch concludes by
advocating for strong educational values and revival of strong
neighborhood public schools. For readers on all sides of the
school-reform debate, this is a very important book.