Death and Life of the Great American School System

A passionate plea to preserve and renew public education, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" is a radical change of heart from one of America's best-known education experts. Diane Ravitch--former assistant secretary of education and a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum--examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch critiques today's most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and the feckless multiplication of charter schools. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, Ravitch makes the case that public education today is in peril. Ravitch includes clear prescriptions for improving America's schools: leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmendevise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be "learning"expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schoolspay teachers a fair wage for their work, not "merit pay" based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scoresencourage family involvement in education from an early age

"The Death and Life of the Great American School System" is more than just an analysis of the state of play of the American education system. It is a must-read for any stakeholder in the future of American schooling.

ISBN 0465025579   Pages 288 ISBN13 9780465025572 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 376 Publisher The Perseus Books Group   Published in New York Imprint Basic Books   Height (mm) 210 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 140 Publication date 17 Nov 2011   Spine width (mm) 24 DEWEY 379.73   Academic level Postgraduate DEWEY edition DC22

"NYSun.com" "Public education is a tough enterprise. It won't be fixed overnight. But if we stick with a back to basics approach, saturated with the solid American democratic values that Ms. Ravitch advocates, we won't be so prone to fall for the silver bullets that never seem to find their mark." "Los Angeles Times" ""The Death and Life of the Great American School System" may yet inspire a lot of high-level rethinking." Valerie Strauss, "Washington Post" "Her credibility with conservatives is exactly why it would be particularly instructive for everyone--whether you have kids in school or not--to read "The Death and Life of the Great American School System."" "Booklist," starred "For readers on all sides of the school-reform debate, this is a very important book." Library Journal, starred "[A]n important and highly readable examination of the educational system, how it fails to prepare students for life after graduation, and how we can put it back on track...Anyone interested in education should definitely read this accessible, riveting book." Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education "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. A 'must' read for all who truly care about American education." Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education, Stanford University, and Founding Executive Director, National Commission for Teaching & America's Future "Diane Ravitch is one of the most important public intellectuals of our time. In this powerful and deftly written book, she takes on the big issues of American education today, fearlessly articulating both the central importance of strong public education and the central elements for strengthening our schools. Anyone who cares ab

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