The United States needs to create stronger public and private education systems, and can do so through decreasing the reliance on standardized testing, according to Diane Ravitch, professor of education at New York University.
Her lecture, "Is There a Crisis in Public Education?" was the latest event in Notre Dame's year-long Forum, "Reimagining School: to Nurture the Soul of a Nation."
Ravitch spoke Tuesday night in the Eck Hall of Law, saying our nation must foster a system capable of caring for the needs of all its students.
"Our schools are a reflection of our society," she said. "They are indeed beset by problems and they need to improve - but they are not declining, and they are not failing."
Ravitch employed a historical perspective, exploring the causes of current challenges to the system's efficacy and the basis of measures enacted to combat them. She said the No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2001, is one such key factor.
"In the decade before the passage of No Child Left Behind, most states had already adopted testing and accountability systems," she said. "However, federal and state policy makers just can't seem to get enough data, they want more."
The focus on collecting data prompts policymakers to look at standardized testing to ascertain the worth of a school, Ravitch said. However, she said tests should have a different purpose.
"Tests should be used to diagnose learning problems, except now they are used inappropriately, to judge the worth of teachers, schools and students," Ravitch said.
Because these tests are being used for more than they were designed to evaluate, Ravitch said policymakers and analysts are drawing incorrect conclusions ignoring the real problem.
"Poverty is the elephant in the room. Reduce poverty and test scores would be increased," she said. "The odds are on the side of children who live in affluent and secure communities."
Ravitch said the emphasis on testing impedes the distribution of quality education.
"We don't know how to test the things that matter most," she said. "The more our nation relies on high-stakes testing, the more our educational sense of priorities are warped."
Ravitch said the use of students' test scores to indicate the relative worth of each teacher is a case of scapegoating. She said blame is placed on teachers, while ignoring other factors.
"Tests are indication of many different qualities [at play in the life of the student], and the teacher has little or no control over many of these factors," Ravitch said. "Tests are also subject to statistical error, random error and human error. They should be used for information, but not to reward or punish."
Ravitch said the nation's first priority should be to halt these policies.
"We have to stop doing wrong things before we start doing right things," she said. "The role of the government should be to level the playing field and to make sure that adequate resources are provided for children in poverty. The federal government should not be telling schools how to reform."
Ravitch said the process would be a long one, requiring people to think creatively about possible ways to enhance American education.
"It will not happen overnight, good things never do," she said. "We will need the work of people who have a vision of how to change the lives of children and families ... there is a lot of work ahead of us all."
Following Ravitch's talk, former teacher Susan van Fleet, recently retired from Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., said she felt Ravitch's opinions analyzed the issue of testing accurately.
"Speaking as someone who's been in the system, she has her fingers right on the problem," Van Fleet said. "Our leaders need to stop not listening ... to the people who really understand the facts, not just basing decisions on politics."
Kate Kennedy, administrative assistant at the Center for Research of Educational Opportunity, said she appreciated Ravitch's analysis of the current state of education in America.
"Ravitch put the brakes on, and took a look and what is actually happening. The bottom line is the same between what each Catholic school and public school wants to do: support schools, support teachers, but what is questionable is whether the current methods are serving that goal," Kennedy said. "Ravitch brought a more historical view, saying this is how school started, this is what we have tried, now let's look at what worked."
Contact Nicole Michels at nmichels@nd.edu
