Diane Ravich Teacher's Accountability

Diane Ravitch is a historian of education at New York University. She makes a very compelling, but extremely one-sided argument that educational reforms such as “No Child Left Behind” are causing students to have lesser opportunities in schools. Her argument is directed towards school boards, parents, and lawmakers who have the ability to change school and state policies on education. She wants those people to believe that the current school system is not effective in giving students a quality education and preparing them for life. Diane Ravitch’s argument brings up a question for readers: Is it beneficial for students when schools cut funding to non-tested subjects? According to Ravitch, most of the schools in the country, except for the ones in the most affluent communities base their

The Common-School model is one in which the school system is set up in order to allow all students an equal education. The disparities between social classes would, theoretically, be eliminated by this normalization. The Sorting-Machine model recognizes that all students are not created equal. Teachers, counselors, and standardized tests would be used to impartially “overcome the influence of family background” (Spring, 2012, p. 59). Finally, the High-Stakes testing model is based on the notion that schools can “give everyone an equal chance to learn and to be tested without cultural bias” (Spring, 2012, p. 63). Standardized tests are used for all forms of advancement and placement from grade-level promotions to professional credentialing. These models are used side-by-side, to some degree, in our 21st century implementation of public education.

In the article “Essentials of Good Education” by Diane Ravitch, she discusses theories around the subject of the education system in the United States. Throughout this essay, it rejects the idea of standardized testing. This meaning that kids are not being taught fully what they need to be taught. It also presents the issue of the perceptions of students in the system by legislatures.

The purpose of this memo is to review and analyze the claims made by Diane Ravitch in her book, The Life and Death of the Great American School System, and to justly state if the authors claims are well-researched and based on facts or if her arguments and claims are biased and opinionated. More specifically, this memo will acknowledge the two central ideas of contemporary education reform today: choice and accountability. Advocates of school choice believe that it provides families with alternative options to choose their children’s education that works best for them while encouraging competition to better schools. However, opponents of school choice believe that it will erode the public school system until it is no more. Some argue that accountability is “the great cure” that will fix schools by testing and placing teachers accountable, this will encourage more effort and in turn promote student achievement. Others believe that too much accountability is the reason why our schools are failing. Ravitch seems to see choice and accountability as the main obstacles standing in the way of a thriving American school system. After much careful research, I have come to two conclusions. First, choice is not remedy to make education better; all that choice does is

In her article, “Stop Blaming Teachers”, Anne Perrin points out the pressures currently facing teachers in the public education systems. Pressures brought on by programs such as No Child Left Behind and standardized testing, the results of which determine many schools’ funding. Perrin, a teacher in the state of Texas, has personally experience these plights. Teachers are browbeat with threats of humiliation and intervention into pandering to students. Perrin points out, “If a student knows he/she can make up an assignment four weeks late, why rush? Would you?” (pg 58). Perrin’s article connects the intimidation brought on by administrative and/or governmental requirements and the teachers acquiescing to preparing the students to take the tests. Failure to do so results in unfavorable

Diane Ravitch explores the corporate side of American public education and the reformists’ misled beliefs that the school system is in crisis. The school reforms in place are disguised as a means of improving public education, when in reality it has become an objective to “replace public education with a privately managed, free-market system of schooling” (Ravitch, p.4). Diane Ravitch supports her claim that the reformation movement has poor intentions with multiple sources of evidence. Among these facts she uncovers the truth behind test scores and the achievement gap. Furthermore, Ravitch exposes how the reform movement is a back-door way to privatize schooling with monetary motives in mind. In response to these problems, Diane

A school system that is entirely based on test scores rather than critical thinking, life skills, and knowledge shouldn’t be considered a school system at all. Being a teacher in America means being forced to follow scripted test prep courses, being criticized by a considerable amount of politicians, blamed for each student whose grades don’t reach unattainable standards, and receiving a mere $39,000 salary compared to a plumber’s salary of $49,140. It’s really no wonder why it is extremely rare to come across a genuinely sophisticated teacher who has a passion for their job and doesn’t continually complain about how they didn’t know what to do with their degree and just needed a steady job. The effect that these futile teachers have on high school students is profound. “I don’t think there was ever a test I didn’t cheat on,” says Winter Park

In the world today, altruism is associated with the “common good” of man while egotism is associated with evil and non-consideration of the fellow man. In contrast to the world’s view, Ayn Rand provides and proves a new definition for egotism through her book, The Fountainhead. She defines egotism in the context of ethics. She states: “Man-every man-is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.” Howard Roark, the protagonist in the book is a selfish and egoistical man whose actions reflect his own

“Multiplication is for White People”, by Lisa Delpit, presented the facts about what was missing in American education. The missing pieces added fuel to the already burning achievement gap fire. Throughout the text, I connected personally with several of the opinions and information provided. According to Delpit (2012), “educational policy [had] been virtually hijacked by the wealthiest citizen, whom no one elected and who [were] unlikely ever to have had a child in the public schools” (p. xv).I recalled many conversations with my colleagues pertaining to this very idea. How could someone, who had no idea what it was like to be in a classroom, dictate what I did in that classroom? Unfortunately, it seemed that the wealthy citizens in society

Instead of coming together to create a truly democratic society that supports the whole we are caught up in serving first our own interests followed by the interests of the system that has allowed us to succeed. How is it possible that the people making the decisions can look at the state of our education system and blame the teachers for failing when they are also the ones providing the strict standards that serve to perpetuate the current hegemonic society we live in? I do think that there are good parts of having certain standards for education – all students should know how to read and write, everyone should have a basic understanding of mathematical concepts and history – but I think by micromanaging classrooms across the country, teachers are prevented from doing their job of teaching students and instead being tasked with “filling up the knowledge bank” with information deemed important by individuals and groups who have little to no connection to actual classrooms. The main point of this chapter was to shine a light on the negatives of the traditional education system and explain the educational philosophy aimed at combating the perpetuation of such

The tests require children to draw from knowledge they learn or experiences they’ve had outside of school, which is different for each student. According to W. James Popham, an expert on educational assessment, “If children come from advantaged families and stimulus-rich environments, then they are more apt to succeed on items in standardized achievement test items than will other children whose environments don't mesh as well with what the tests measure”. The biases in the development and administration of standardized tests often contribute to the achievement gap between whites and minorities. As a result students from low-income and minority families, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities are more likely to be held back a grade, be placed in unnecessary remedial education programs, and be denied a diploma (Reese, pg. 1). Another problem with standardized testing is the tests do not accurately measure teacher quality. Standardized tests are often used to evaluate teachers and schools staff based on their student’s scores. However, standardized tests are limited indicators of student knowledge and progress; therefore they do not reflect the wide range of knowledge and skills a teacher covers in the classroom. It is unfair to isolate the impact of one individual because teaching is a collaborative and developmental process (FairTest, pg. 1). People think that if standardized test scores are high they can label teachers as

The current education system is founded on standard based accountability which focuses more on the attainment of common core standards and national assessment than on student learning.. In the report, A Path to the Future: Creating Accountability for Personalized Learning, written by Anne Hyslop and Sara Mead of Bellewether Education Partners for policymakers, Anne Hyslop is a Senior Policy Analyst who produces research, analysis and commentary on educational accountability and improvement, and other issues including the intersection and alignment of state and federal policy, PreK-12. Sara Mead’s background in education is diverse she has served as a researcher, writer, advisor, director, she has worked in the Education Sector, the Progressive

Quantitative research involves collecting data, which can be expressed numerically. The design is well structured with pre-determined outcomes. It frequently involves testing a hypothesis, which then can be analysed from the data deductively using statistical methods. Using numerical data is easier to analysis mathematical, so larger sample sizes can be utilised compared to qualitative research, therefore giving a better representative of the population; along with simplifying the process of making a generalisation. Another advantage is that studies can easily compare to similar findings (Kruger, 2003). The disadvantages are the results are limited and might not provide a proper understanding of the topic. Also, statistics and leading questions can be used to give a false representation of the data when summarising.

The company has no receiving department, nor receiving report, and for proper separation of duties, the employee responsible for receiving should have been separate from the storeroom personnel clerks.

“Allegory of the Cave” is a dialog between Socrates and Gloucon in “The Republic” written by Plato. The image of the cave is a universal picture of the human conditions and a complex metaphor that applies to everyone in society. It questions the mentality and the biased point of view created by the society and human nature (which relates to stereotyping, something I will explain further into the essay). The idea delivered through the dialogue thousands of years ago is so general that examples could still be found in today’s society.