Education is the key to developing human capital.
1) The nature and success of our education system- whether mediocre or excellent- will influence society, economically, culturally, and civically, far into the future.
2) Students need to graduate prepared to lead fulfilling lives, to be responsible citizens, and to make good choices for themselves, their family, and society.
A continued emphasis on high-stakes testing in math and language arts follows the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation cannot achieve these goals. A society cannot sustain itself if its citizens are uninformed and indifferent about its history, government, and workings of its economy. Nor can it prosper if it neglects to educate children in the principles of science, technology, geography, literature, and the arts.
3) A successful educational system requires enormous effort and includes:
a) Strong and progressive curricula, providing all students an equal opportunity to learn.
b) Experienced teachers
c) Effective instruction
d) Willing students
e) Effective and supportive administrative leadership
f) Adequate economic and school resources
g) A community that values education.
4) Our schools will not improve if we continually reorganize their structure and management without regard to their essential purpose.
Our educational problems are a function o our lack of educational vision, not a management problem that require the enlistment of an army of business consultants.
Organizational change cannot by itself raise learning to the heights of excellence that are needed.
5) Our schools should be “data informed,” not “data-driven.”
A good accountability system, whether evaluating schools, teachers, or students, should include a variety of measures, not only state standardized test scores.
6) Our schools cannot be improved if we ignore the disadvantages associated with poverty that affect children’s ability to learn.
Children who grow up in poverty need extra resources, including preschool and medical care. They need small classes, where they will get extra teacher time and time for learning. Families also need additional support from public and private agencies to help them improve their education, acquire necessary social and job skills, and to obtain jobs and housing.
7)Public education needs to be strengthened and supported, not dismantled.
Charter schools should use their autonomy from the usual rules and regulations to show what they can do to educate students who have been unable to learn in a traditional school setting. Charter schools should not be in competition with regular public schools but should be designed to collaborate with traditional public schools in a common mission: the education of all children.
Diane Ravitch, Chapter 11: Lessons Learned. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic Books, 2010.
