Sunday, April 4, 2010

Too Cruel for School

Diane Ravitch has an excellent piece in today's Washington Post on school reform. She calls for an end to the pernicious impotence of No Child Left Behind. She also mercifully sheds light on the complete lack of evidence to suggest the supremacy of charter schools or school choice in better quantitative academic outcomes. A sound piece all in all.

6 comments:

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  3. Would you support year-round schooling? From some studies I've seen, the reason American students seem to be lagging is because so much knowledge is, I guess, seeping out of them during the long summer breaks, and some think this is the primary problem. I've heard some people say it wouldn't work, though, because the American family unit, its personal and economic rhythms, are significantly dependent on the summer break.

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  4. Incidentally, when I was in grade school the idea of year-round class was horrifying. Now I think they should have to go to school...FOREVER!

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  5. Re Squishing Machine: I would support year round schooling, though I would reject the premise that the deficit in skills or knowledge results from a summer break. I think the deficit is due more to our values as a culture - meaning an emphasis on short-term materialism and the saturated fat of pop culture consumption - than two and a half months off. Still, if the year round schooling tack takes off, there would only be more short breaks spread throughout the year. Ultimately, I would wager, one wouldn't notice the difference. Moreover, year round schooling could never work in CPS, as most of the schools are not air-conditioned; that would create real health risk for a lot of kids.

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