Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch
Diane Silvers Ravitchis a historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, she was a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth1 July 1938
CountryUnited States of America
complacency reform obstacles
The greatest obstacle to those who hope to reform American education is complacency.
thinking law people
In DC, policymakers think that if we can only have high enough standards, tough enough tests, and hold people accountable, we can close the achievement gap. And it hasn't happened. Yet the new law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, is based on the same test-based and market-driven framework and ideology, except it lets the states do it.
troops our-troops ifs
You can't lead your troops if your troops do not trust you.
civilization taught students
Of course, all students should learn African history, as they should learn the history of other continents and major civilizations. But this history should be taught accurately and based on the best scholarship, not ideology or politics.
rainbow gold pot
We will continue to chase rainbows unless we recognize that they are rainbows and there is no pot of gold at the end of them
children educational ideas
Testing children until they cry is a bad idea. It is an educational malpractice.
teacher hurt children
What is happening to teachers now across this nation is a disgrace. The attacks on them are a blot on our nation. Teachers and students are not different interest groups. Anyone who demeans teachers demeans education and hurts children.
decision understanding passive
Without knowledge and understanding, one tends to become a passive spectator rather than an active participant in the great decisions of our time.
teacher law teach
Those who can’t teach, pass laws about how to evaluate teachers.
school ladders path
The ladder was there, from the gutter to the university, and for those stalwart enough to ascend it, the schools were a boon and a path out of poverty.
children school responsibility
Unless the schools provide our children with a vision of human possibility that enlightens and empowers them with knowledge and taste, they will simply play their role in someone else's marketing schemes. Unless they understand deeply the sources of our democracy, they will take it for granted and fail to exercise their rights and responsibilities.
school fire police
Privatizing our public schools makes as much sense as privatizing the fire department or or the police department
teacher children thinking
Can teachers successfully educate children to think for themselves if teachers are not treated as professionals who think for themselves?
intelligent shining mind
Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.