Brooklyn Heights Resident/Author Diane Ravitch on the Daily Show

By on March 4, 2011 9:47 am in Celebrity Residents, Education

Brooklyn Heights resident/author Diane Ravitch appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night. Watch her explain why “testing and choice” is not saving the American education system, after the jump.

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  • http://Building Jeffrey J Smith

    I listened very carefully to her during the BHA annual meeting.
    But you know, when I was a very small child I attended with my parents a public hearing where Bella Dodd spoke on what was
    to shortly happen in education. her predictions were dead on
    accurate-alas for our country.

    But the three things which are never mention in any of the
    treatments of what is happening to our educational system
    layoffs/”reductions in staff” and all is…first, why when the
    various municipal and state governments are awash in
    funds, you have to access the CAFR’s comprehensive
    annual financial reports to see them, (just google CAFR
    and read about this) why we are laying off staff. Second,
    if we have a financial crisis in municipal and state finance-
    why cant the banking community do even a little…”modifica-
    tion” of the amount of debt which is strangling all civic life
    in this country.

    Third, if anyone wants to REALLY understand what is
    happening in education, they only have to access

    http://www.thedeliberatedumbingdown.com

    and they have only to download her book, free, of
    Charlotte Thompson Iserbyt just read what she has to say.
    She was like the #2 in the dept of education under Reagan
    and she quit in protest due to what she saw government and
    the educational establishment was doing to the nation’s youth.

    Funny, I asked a lot of people at the BHA wine and cheese
    if they had any idea this web site or Mrs Iserbyt existed….
    Nothing….

    Not only the kids have been dumbed down….

    By the way, Charrlotte Iserbyt’s father was a big skull and bones
    figure. After his death she gave access to researchers to his
    private papers…This advanced researcher’s understanding of
    S&B and Scroll and Key for that matter a very considerable degree.

    I think a friend has a picture next to the Grandfather clock he recieved.

  • stuart little

    I watched her on the Daily Show.
    She just seems to be against new ideas in education and seems to think we should imitate Finland. But we are very different than Finland.
    Most Western European countries such as France, Britain, Germany, rely on testing to know what children are learning. She seemed a bit elite and out of touch.

  • BrooklynTea

    Ms. Ravitch and others continue to try and dumb down the curricuulm. This tactic will not solve the poverty issue in our country.

    1. Our society has become lazy and this is just another example of how lazy our society has become over the years.

    2. Parents use the school as a babysitting service and not an educational facility. It is not a teacher’s job to raise your child! Parents need to take a more active role and work with their child to reinforce the teachings learned in school.
    3. Eliminating testing in our schools will not eliminate poverty in this country, it will only make it worse.
    4. Tests are needed to help assess what the child has learned and help diagnose where they need help. This feedback is helpful for the student, the teacher and the parent.
    5. The unions would love to eliminate testing, because it would eliminate another benchmark which can be used to monitor the effectiveness of the teacher(s). Unions hate productivity measures!

    I ask you Ms. Ravitch…I don’t like paying my taxes, does this mean I should stop? I don’t like exercising…does this mean I should stop? I don’t like doing my laundry…should I stop? Wake up people and be responsible for yourself and stop blaming everyone else around you.

    Perhaps we should focus on issues like reducing teen pregnancy or reducing our divorce rate. Fixing these problems may help improve a child’s performance and reduce the poverty rate in this country. It’s not the TEST stupid.