Carol’s Summary:
In her new book, The Death and Life of the American Education School System: How Testing and Choices are Undermining Education, scholar Diane Ravitch blasts No Child Left Behind, a reform she originally supported. In an interview for USA Today she said, “If the goal of schooling is to produce educated people, we’ve lost sight of that goal.†She says the original intent of charters schools was to provide, “laboratories of innovation,†but instead they’ve become a privatized sector that competes with public schools, and in Ravitch’s view, contributes to their demise.
Whether public, private or charter, if schools are to regain their goal of educating the whole child, they must offer programs that boost academic, emotional and social intelligence for what the 21st century will require and reward. LifeBound’s student success and transition programs are designed to help students develop their critical and creative thinking skills and promote emotional and social skills for our global world. Likewise, our professional development seminars equip administrators and teachers with coaching skills to invigorate their staff and classrooms.
How can schools systems come to a consensus on the skill sets all students need to successfully compete in the global marketplace and contribute to the world at large?
How can school systems work together to create a relevant curriculum and retain strong teachers?
What is our responsibility to future generations of students to make sure we provide a world-class education for all learners?
ARTICLE:
Scholar Diane Ravitch: ‘We’ve lost sight’ of schools’ goal
By Greg Toppo
USA TODAY
March 10, 2010
Education historian Diane Ravitch can pinpoint the day when she realized public schools in the USA were racing down a perilous road, one that promised long-sought reforms but would never deliver — and probably make things worse.
It was Nov. 30, 2006.
That’s the day, nearly five years after Congress passed the No Child Left Behind education reform law, when Ravitch found herself in the downtown Washington, D.C., conference room of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, listening to a series of presenters weigh in on the measure’s “remedies” for low-performing schools. Many of the presenters that Thursday were ideological allies of President George W. Bush, who had pushed for more standardized testing and free-market competition among public schools.
To view this entire article visit www.usatoday.com
