Is the public school broken and in need of fixing?

Ravitch's Perspective on the Public Education System

Ravitch claims that while the public education system is failing, the government is doing nothing but watching. Evidently, the public school system faces a number of issues, from a lack of funding to the caliber of instruction. According to the government, students in public schools are underachieving when compared to students in private schools, with students from low-income families getting an average of 455 points and students from high-income brackets scoring an average of 587 points. This problem needs a lot of attention, and Ravitch, who has worked in the department, understands that no child left behind and other similar programs have not been nearly as effective. The public schools are not failing and in need of fixing, but rather the government is using this hoax to pass their agenda for privatization of the public schooling system, whereby failing schools are to be closed and replaced with charter schools.

Ravitch's View on the Education Reform Movement's Purpose

According to Ravitch, is the education reform movement’s purpose to reform public education? Describe her views on this.

Ravitch was the secretary to the education office where these reforms were first proposed. At first, she supported them whole-heartedly. Nonetheless, in time she realized that these ideologies were flawed and that the reforms proposed by standardized tests and No Child Left Behind policies would in no way improve the public schooling system. Whereas the reforms were to improve the children’s intelligence, these reforms and the entire reforms movement had no such goal (Ravitch, 2001). The core goal was to promote increased competition and imparting students with academic skills, most of which are not applicable in the real world. Therefore, in her perspective, the reforms movement is a waste of time and resources that will only worsen the public schooling system.

Ravitch's Take on No Child Left Behind and the Texas Miracle

According to Ravitch, was "No Child Left Behind" based on the "Texas Miracle" an illusion? How does she describe this?

The Houston Texas miracle was a scenario whereby the students' test scores had improved and the dropout rates had dropped attributed to the teachers' performance and approach to teaching. However, this was an illusion, as Ravitch sees it, used to propagate the agenda for the No Child Left Behind act. She does not clarify if the statement made by teachers in Texas were false in any way, but she argues that there was literally no connection between the Texas Miracle and NCLB policy. Regardless, GW Bush and the rest of the policy makers used the "Texas Miracle" as a campaigning approach to further the motion that had with their shape to create an education system that was of more benefit to the government and corporations than it was to individuals (Ravitch, 2013).

Ravitch's Approach to Promoting Academic Outcomes for Young People

According to Ravitch, how best can we promote academic outcomes for young people?

Ravitch argues that the education reforms are more political than based on the students' best interests. Liberals worry about testing students, whereas the conservatives worry about the loss of control of the education system. However, the best approach to handling this topic should not focus on politics but rather the intellectual advantages of having a great system. Therefore, Ravitch proposes the establishment of tests to maintain control, but at the same time, creating a system that improves the intelligence of the students as opposed to equipping them with academic skills alone (Ravitch, 2016). To an extent, the public school system is not failing as propagated by the media, but rather this was a hoax to advocate for the privatization of the education system.

Ravitch's Opinion on the Use of Common Core Standards

What does Ravitch say about the current use of Common Core Standards?

The current use of Common Core Standards is absurd and a part of the bigger policy of eradicating the public schooling system. The policy indicates that the government is working to an extent with the hope of eliminating the public schooling system. Whereas the core standards focus on evaluating teacher accountability and student performance through standardized tests, the main agenda is the furthering of chartered schools to replace the public schooling system. This approach promotes commoditizing education as a service, and it will eventually have some negative effects on the overall wellbeing of the public schools. Ravitch sees this approach as irrelevant and one driven by a hidden agenda not exposed to the public.

Ravitch's Comparison between Bush's NCLB and Obama's Race to the Top

According to Ravitch, what are some of the ideas shared by Bush's NCLB and Obama's Race to the Top?

The first similarity outlined between these ideas is the similarity in their focus on fixing the public schooling system through the development of charters schools that will be more effective. Similarly, both policies are focused on tests, and thus will leave out some of the best and amazing qualities of the current system such as time for art and physical education. The education system is now tied with wages; therefore, some of the aspects and fields that are good for the society that are not focused on money will be outright done with. Students will focus more on cheating and gaming the system since the entire focus is on their scores, as opposed to the knowledge they acquire.

Ravitch's Perspective on Educational Reformers

According to Ravitch, who are the educational reformers? Name and describe them.

Heading the reforms are the various presidents. George W. Bush was the core reformer for the No Child Left Behind policy that sought to improve the public schooling system, ensuring that all children had access to a good education system. Barrack Obama was another core reformer for the Race to The Top policy. Similarly, other reformers include the heads of ministries or cabinet secretaries of the Education system, congressional representatives who pass motions on improving the public schooling system and school district heads within different states and school districts throughout the United States.

Ravitch's View on the Consequences of Race to The Top and the $5 Billion Fund

According to Ravitch, what were the consequences of Race to The Top and the $5 billion fund to promote competition among the states?

The more teachers drill students to achieve better results by their teachers, the more they end up resenting the education system. As such, the passing of the Race to the Top, which is motivating more teachers to push their students harder, is only going to backfire on them, resulting in the students cheating more (Strauss, 2016). Similarly, it will also force students to engage in studies harder, leaving them no time for extracurricular activities such as physical exercise and art. Despite the importance of the policies in making these schools more effective and better achievers in the end, the Race to the Top initiative is driven at making the public schools worse in a quest to improve them.

References

Ravitch, D. (2001). Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Ravitch, D. (2013). Reign of error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Ravitch, D. (2016). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. New York : Basic Books.

Strauss, V. (2016). A surprising truth about American education. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/07/a-surprising-truth-about-american-education/?utm_term=.48db27ca8306