Twitter Book Club: @DianeRavitch (2010) The Death and Life of the Great American School System - Ch 1

What I Learned About School Reform

"It is the mark of a sentient human being to learn from experience, to pay close attention to how theories (cont) http://tl.gd/77p5qiless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@dianeravitch "only sustained quality education makes a difference" -but, doesn't this also ensure a (cont) http://tl.gd/77pbrrless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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This is still an unanswered question I have after reading this book:

@dianeravitch "only sustained quality education makes a difference" -but, doesn't this also ensure a sustained inequity? And, what do you mean by "quality education?"

"[In NYC] school reformers of the 1890s demanded centralization A's an antidote to low-performing schools (cont) http://tl.gd/77pe22less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@dianeravitch "The schools cannot solve all of our societal problems, nor are they perfect. But in a (cont) http://tl.gd/77pi6pless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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This is another unanswered question I still have:

@dianeravitch "The schools cannot solve all of our societal problems, nor are they perfect. But in a democratic society, they are necessary and valuable for individuals and for the commonweal." I think this depends greatly on how you define 'school.' Couldn't this also be true if schools look vastly different than they have for the past 150 years? Is it school you are talking about or some formal system of education?

"The federal government is prohibited by law from imposing any curriculum on states or school districts." Diane Ravitchless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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This is important for the Common Core and National Curriculum advocates to keep in mind.

"Those who make policy are most successful when they must advance their ideas through a gauntlet of checks (cont) http://tl.gd/77pq4tless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@dianeravitch what about those who do "know anything about children or education" who know how to (cont) http://tl.gd/77pt2jless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Here is another question I still have and one I believe calls to attention the problem that we have where most education policy makers have never taught in a classroom. And, both those who have never taught and those who have were all good at playing the game of school. They were likely concrete sequential thinkers who grew to become pedants who loved every paraphernalia associated with what we all think of as formal traditional schooling.

@dianeravitch what about those who do "know anything about children or education" who know how to "improve low-performing schools or break through the lassitude of unmotivated teens?" There are plenty out there and most are echoing the words of John Holt, Neil Postman, John Dewey... (in response to pg11)

"I came to believe that accountability as written into federal law, was not raising standards but dumbing (cont) http://tl.gd/77pv55less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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For some reason my iPod thinks I mean A's every time I type the word as. Its getting very frustrating.