Diane Ravitch

“Diane Ravitch is the rarest of scholars—one who reports her findings and conclusions, even when they go against conventional wisdom and even when they counter her earlier, publicly espoused positions.” Howard Gardner

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education is Diane Ravitch‘s new tome. It is clear, now that I have read it, why reviewers are saying”…this is a very important book”.

‘The Death and Life…” is a well-written, very readable and well-researched. The multiple perspectives Ravitch brings to the debate about school reform makes the book particularly valuable. Diane Ravitch is an academic and education historian with long experience but is best-known for her advocacy of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policies as his Assistant Secretary of Education. Her book explores educational reform that she originally supported but now feels was terribly misguided.

Ravitch knows schools need to be improved.

A wave of reforms, in the US, over the last century has not been satisfactory and she says, “the policies we are following today are unlikely to improve our schools…(and are) likely to make the schools less effective”. Ravitch’s book looks at the most recent waves of reforms that she supported but now knows were errors of judgement. Particularly important is her analysis of how data in New York City was misinterpreted in District 2.

This model was adopted by other states and educational precincts based on the flawed belief that the new approach was working miracles (always a good reason for skepticism). You can still read about the ‘success’ of the approach taken by Anthony Alvarado, here and also an interview discussing that ‘progress’. His approach caused much bitterness. In San Diego (chapter 4) 1998-2005, where the Alvarado model was adopted even more forcefully, with a  ’90% turnover rate of principalships’ (p.61) and dismissal of ‘fifteen administrators’ during Alan Bersin’s tenure. There appears to have been no discernible improvement, in fact, there’s evidence to suggest a decline in educational oucomes. With such ‘angry and disaffected…troops’, Ravitch is not surprised. “Trust not cercion is a neccessary precondition for school reform” being her sage point. (p. 66)

Ravitch, in her chapter, ‘The Trouble with Accountability”, says that, ‘tests are necessary and helpful” but when “we define what matters in education only by what is measured, we are in serious trouble”. (p.166)

Ravitch believes that the ‘fundamentals of are to be found in the classroom, the home, the community and the culture, but reformers in our time look for shortcuts and quick answers”. (p.225)

Australian educators, systems leaders and politicians who do not read Ravitch’s book are being irresponsible, considering the implications of some of the current Federal government’s education policy for our children and communities. I implore all interested in education to read this important research and analysis.

Here is an interview (and another) with Ravitch and a very good review by ED Hirsch. Here’s a complete list of reviews.

Please consider reading this important analysis of educational reform and the impact on children and communities.

UPDATE: Diane Ravitch is on twitter.

‘Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future’*

As I was unable to attend the Education Future Forum, held in Sydney earlier this year, Dr Phil Lambert kindly emailed me his presentation, 2010-2020: Ten Propositions for the Decade.

Phil’s paper is lengthy and it is not my purpose here to cast a cold eye over it but to take one issue of interest and seek your input, dear readers.

Phil has the following tables outlining some ’false dichotomies in education’ that are of particular interest to those, enthralled with ’21st century learning’, who want to keep the best of what are considered traditional practices.

Figure 1 – old versus new models of schooling and Learning

Old Model	New Model
Reform existing schools	Create new schools
Larger schools	Smaller schools
Delivering education	Students learning
Read books, listen to talk	Explore the Web
Time-bound/place-bound	Any time/any place
Technology as textbook	Technology as research
Groups, classes	Individualised
Time is fixed	Time is variable
Standardisation	Customisation
Cover material	Understand key ideas
Who and what	Why and how
Know things	Apply knowledge
Tradition	Relevance
Over-reliance on multiple – choice tests	Written/Oral demonstrations
Testing for accountability	Testing for understanding
“Make ‘em”	“Motivate ‘em”
Instructors	Advisers/facilitators
Teachers serve administrators	Administrators serve teachers
Administrative management	Professional partnership
Adult interests dominate	Student interests dominate

The second example, developed by Shaw (2009), presents windows into a supposed classroom of last century and that of a preferred C21 classroom.

Figure 2 – 20^th Century Classroom versus 21^st Century Classroom

The 20th Century Classroom	The 21st Century Classroom
1960s typical classroom – teacher-centred, fragmented curriculum, students working in isolation, memorising facts.	An architectural firm establishes an alternative school providing internships for high school students.
Time-based	Outcome-based
Focus: memorisation of discrete facts	Focus: what students know, can do and are like after all the details are forgotten.
Lessons focus on the lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy – knowledge, comprehension and application.	Learning is designed on upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy – synthesis, analysis and evaluation.
Textbook-driven	Research-driven
Passive learning	Active learning
Learners work in isolation – classroom within 4 walls	Learners work collaboratively with classmates and others around the world – the Global Classroom
Teacher-centred: teacher is centre of attention and provider of information	Student-centred: teacher is facilitator/coach
Little to no student freedom	Great deal of student freedom
Discipline problems – educators do not trust students and vice versa. No student motivation.	No “discipline problems” – students and teachers have mutually respectful relationships as co-learners; students are highly motivated.
Fragmented curriculum	Integrated and interdisciplinary curriculum
Grades averaged	Grades based on what was learned
Low expectations	High expectations – “If it isn’t good it isn’t done.” We expect and ensure that all students succeed in learning at high-levels. Some may go higher – we get out of their way to let them do that.
Teacher is judge. No one else sees student work.	Self, peer and other assessments. Public audience, authentic assessments.
Curriculum/school is irrelevant and meaningless to the students.	Curriculum is connected to students’ interests, experience, talents and the real world.
Print is the primary vehicle of learning and assessment.	Performances, projects and multiple forms of media are used for learning and assessment.
Diversity in students is ignored.	Curriculum and instruction, address student diversity.
Literacy is the 3 Rs – reading, writing and maths.	Multiple literacies of the 21st century – aligned to living and working in a globalised new millennium.
Factory model, based upon the needs of employers for the Industrial Age of the 19th century. Scientific management.
Driven by standardised testing.

Phil says:

“What we see here are two separate models suggesting that what happens in all schools and classrooms is one approach that is stuck in the past and must become the other (preferred approach) today. There is no room for a model that incorporates new approaches along with some proven practices. Instead we are presented with what is considered “in” (the “new model”) and what is now “out” (the “old model”).”

Your ideas

Q: Do exponents of the ‘new model’ completely have to reject the current paradigm to evolve?

Q: How is this binary to be resolved positively and our schools evolve?

*Phil’s speech opened with a quote from Niels Bohr, prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future which amusingly sums up the challenges of crystal-ball gazing.

The best three-minute video about leadership you will ever see

This amusing video on leadership was posted at Penny Sharpe’s blog. You may wish to follow this MLC on twitter too. Here’s the transcript

more about “Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy“, posted with vodpod

HIT REFRESH: Leading and Blogging

Welcome to our blogging workshop today for the NSW English Teachers’ Association annual conference. 

Before we commence, lets gather some data using a great online tool called Survey Monkey (only for conference delegates please).

A key issue: why do you want to blog? What is your purpose? What do you want to achieve? How can you connect?

Kelli McGraw is a great example of an English teacher and leader blogging. I recommend you read her recent post inspired by a move to Queensland. Kelli’s latest post about our ETA conference backchannel #etaconf09 is a must read too.

BTW: at some stage you should register for the conference ning.

You may wish to post some comments and a link to the new blogs you set up today.

Leading and Blogging #IWBNET09 Presentation

Apologies for the font problem. Slideshare didn’t like that one obviously.

Leadership Day 2009

Scott McLeod has sent out a clarion call for bloggers to post about leadership:

He says, “many of our school leaders (principals, superintendents, central office administrators) need help when it comes to digital technologies” and in our NSW context, with the DER in full swing, this is particularly pertinent.

I have always assumed that Scott’s blog is titled ‘Dangerously Irrelevant’ as this is what school has become to many of our students. The DER is an opportunity and as Mark Pesce says, a Trojan Horse, that can assist us to revitalise our institutions and approaches to learning and teaching.

Leaders need to learn and gain new skills. It is important that new concepts are understood but equally important is that leaders gain new skills and demonstrate they are willing to be less than expert while endeavouring to learn.

Seth Godin helped me understand educators and their reluctance to change when I read the following quote:

It doesn’t take a lot of time to change … to reinvent … or to redesign. No, it doesn’t take time; it takes will. The will to change. The will to take a risk. The will to become incompetent – at least for a while.

Educators are used to being competent, in charge and the people to go to when one needs assistance and advice. Teacher leaders are even more like this and we need to change. We all need to be open and perhaps, be a little incompetent, just for a while, as we model what it means to lead – and learn.