Analysis of Diane Ravitch's Views on Education Reform

The assignment requires an in-depth analysis of Diane Ravitch's views on education reform, focusing on her critique of the privatization movement and her stance on the importance of public education. The student is expected to provide a detailed summary of Ravitch's arguments, including her claims that poverty is the greatest source of low achievement in academic and her emphasis on creating schools that cater to the needs of disadvantaged students. Additionally, the assignment asks the student to evaluate whether the privatization movement has widespread support among the people, with Ravitch arguing that it is a failure of public education that should be addressed through better funding, smaller classes, and more prepared teachers.

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AURTHORS NAME
UNIVERSITY OF AFFILIATION

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According to Ravitch, have virtual schools delivered on the promise personalized learning to
every student? No. Discuss the issues presented by Ravitch regarding virtual schools?
Ravitch considered the virtual schools a significant threat to the public education system,
stating that on assessment level, the students on charter schools do not perform any better than
the students in public schools (Ravitch, 2016). The charter schools have also strayed away from
their mission of offering help to students with special needs to becoming academies that lure
students into their creative and attractive programs. Through this means there is continuous
segregation fostered among the students with the most challenging and expensive the body of
heterogeneous students. Ravitch stated that permitting the voucher system of the schools would
not result in the school's academic competition which can lead to education quality increase but
rather leave schools with a significant gap in education disparities("My View: Rhee is wrong and
misinformed", 2015).
According to Klein and Rhee, the most critical factor determining whether students succeed in
school is the quality of the teacher. They state that teacher credentials, experience, and education
are irrelevant in judging their quality. Klein and Rhee go on to say that a highly effective teacher
generates about 50% more learning than an average teacher while an ineffective teacher
generates 50% less learning than an average teacher. What does Ravitch have to say about this
interpretation?
Ravitch disagrees with Rhee and Klein opinion on public teacher unions. She stated that
public education is not broken, it is neither failing nor declining(Ravitch, 2016).. She indicates
that the diagnosis is wrong and the corporate solution of the reformer is wrong too. She believes

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the problem is confined to a specific subset of the urban schools which is a problem that has been
concentrated by the racial segregation and poverty .Ravitch is against the reforms hoped to be
enforced by Rhee and Klein as they will not help but worsen the situation.Ravitch has a firm
belief that these reforms are dupes and merely misguided.
What does Ravitch say about the opinion of the corporate reformers of education who state that
by allowing parents to seize control of schools they can make them better?
Ravitch says that the parent revolution is significantly funded by all those organizations that
are heavily supporting the reform movement agenda. With the gates case which is attempting
apparently to undercut the opposition through funding of some teachers union
initiatives(Artemev, Grace, Ozturk, Harding & Brezheniuk, 2012).Through the legislation in
California, the parent revolution was succeeded .in schools where there was an attempt to open a
charter school, only a third of the parent community, voted for who had signed the trigger
petition had their children enrolled there. In the other schools with all the efforts, during the time
of charter selection, permit allowed to vote were only those who had signed the petition. Ravitch
states that the public seems to understand this more than any politicians.
What are the solutions that Ravitch proposes for making the schools more effective?
Ravitch propose the following in making the schools more effective: Increase in funds allocated
to schools. Reduction in the class size to 20 or fewer students. Offer full curriculum activity such
as physical education in arts. Motivate and highly support teachers. Test students less and teach

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them more. Fund schools with enough psychologist, librarians, and nurses. By law ban all the
charter schools. Have less segregation in schools. Change the teaching profession perception
through quality raise and standard raise.
According to Ravitch, what were the consequences of the NCLB’s centralization of education in
Washington D.C.?
The clubs centralization had some goals that were considered utopian, that incorporated harsh
sanctions which turned out to be the worst legislation on education ever passed .A prediction
made by secretary of Education Arne Duncan, indicated that there are high chances of eighty
percent of the schools run by the government to be labeled failing by the standard of federal,
comprising of some schools rated with excellent performance whereby the students were not on
track so as to meet the targets. He predicted that coming the year 2014 if the law will remain
unchanged, very few schools will not have the label failures(Strauss & Strauss, 2014).Despite the
fact that no country has ever achieved 100 percent proficiency for every student, no state in the
nation is anywhere close to producing that. The Bush-era law is considered as a disaster in public
policy of epic proportions. However, the Congress has not been able to agree about changing the
law.
Does Ravitch agree with the notion that we should not wait to “fix” poverty until we have
“fixed” the schools? Ravitch does not agree with the notion. Explain?

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Ravitch explains that the greatest source of low achievement in academic is poverty. She
states that students who are from poverty are distracted easily by the social, economic and
emotional problems in their lives. According to Ravitch, the students who are having challenges
in their social, emotional and financial issues need their realities recognized (Ross,
2016).Ravitch stated that is the people were caring about the education improvement, there could
be smaller class sizes, specifically for needy kids. The school could ensure that every day there
was a school nurse that the students could run to whenever they are sick. Talking about poverty
will not lead to poverty eradication, instead, schools should be created comfortably to equip
students with the right skills for a better life.
According to Ravitch, does the privatization movement have the widespread support of the
people? True Explain?
According to Ravitch, the privatization leaders who refer to themselves as reformers, have
their intentions varying from the reformers in the past. Compared to reformers in the previous
years who wanted teachers who were better prepared, smaller classes, better funding, the
reformers in today's world insist on the failure of public education (Ravitch, 2016). They
however assert that it's better to hand over private education to the private management and
allow the market to differentiate winners from the losers. They don’t have a clear understanding
that the critical role for private schools is a democracy.
References

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Artemev, N., Grace, K., Ozturk, B., Harding, J., & Brezheniuk, V. (2012). Privatization of
public education | Education Policy Talk. Educationpolicytalk.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018,
from https://educationpolicytalk.com/tag/privatization-of-public-education/
In the Name of Reform? A Lesson About Michelle Rhee's Big Plans from Art Siebens. (2015).
Education Week - eduwonkette. Retrieved 26 March 2018, from
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/eduwonkette/2008/10/in_the_name_of_reform_a_lesson_1.html
How Education Expert Diane Ravitch Should Help Low-Income Students in 2014. (2013).
Chicagonow.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018, from
http://www.chicagonow.com/white-rhino/2013/12/how-education-expert-diane-ravitch-should-
help-low-income-students-in-2014/
My View: Rhee is wrong and misinformed. (2015). Schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com. Retrieved
26 March 2018, from http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/09/my-view-rhee-is-
wrong-and-misinformed/
Our School Problem and Its Solutions. (2017). City Journal. Retrieved 26 March 2018, from
https://www.city-journal.org/html/our-school-problem-and-its-solutions-11877.html
Ross, R. (2016). For public schools, one reform matters above all else. latimes.com. Retrieved
26 March 2018, from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-oew-ross14-2009aug14-
story.html
Strauss, V., & Strauss, V. (2014). Who makes sense in this debate? Ravitch vs. wealthy school
reformer — Round 2.. Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2018, from

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/05/13/who-makes-sense-in-this-
debate-ravitch-vs-wealthy-school-reformer-round-2/?utm_term=.ceb988d2ea71
Ravitch, D. (2016). School ‘Reform’: A Failing Grade. The New York Review of Books.
Retrieved 26 March 2018, from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/09/29/school-reform-
failing-grade/