I read this because a close friend suggested that I use it for my class. Damn, I hate it when I have to tell him that he is right.

Smeg!

The only reason I am not curled up in a whole crying about the coming apocalypse brought to us by stupid people is that it isn’t just an American problem if a conversation I had with a teacher from South Africa is any indication.

Ravitch’s book is a study in what went wrong in trying to correct the course of American Schools. It is politic in some parts, but take heart (or double the fear) – every side is too blame because no one seems to want to actually talk and think about the problem in a rational way. It’s not just politicians either, but those foundations that donate money – like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

BTW, am I the only one who is worried that one of the major supporters of school reform is a foundation linked to Wal-Mart?

Ravitch took some heat for her change in view, but this is w
what makes the book compelling because Ravitch takes you step by step on how her view changed. It makes the writing more powerful because it means she actually thinks, considers, rejects or accepts, and then repeats the process when more information becomes available.

There are many statistics that are discussed, yet the book is not dry. In many ways, it is a presentation about how to use statistics and judge them. In this day, when exit polls are used by news agencies as the source for determining the winner (they shouldn’t be), it’s nice to see this.

Crossposted on Booklikes.