Reform is the new "it" word in education, but is all reform good? It is important to stay up to date about the different reform ideas and how they may actually affect your child's education. The following articles talk about some of the problems/issues with different reform ideas. Check them out.
How Finland emerged from recession with the best education system in Europe, The Irish Times, March 1, 2011
One of the big ideas in reform is to emulate Finland. However, Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, a senior education consultant to the Finnish Government, points out that, "Finland has not employed any of the market-based educational reform ideas in the ways that they have been accepted within education policies of many other nations, United States and England among them. By contrast, a typical feature of teaching and learning in Finland is high confidence in teachers and principals as respected professionals."
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There Are No Silver-Bullets in Education Reform, Forbes, February 28, 2011
E.D. Kain discusses the reform efforts led by Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., the impact of the Gates and Broad foundations and teacher assessments. Kain concludes that, "[t]he accountability movement has shifted the focus away from American ingenuity and creativity in favor of strict testing regimes in an attempt to compete with Japan and Finland."
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Finally there are two pieces by Diane Ravitch,
Why America's teachers are enraged, CNN, February 20, 2011 and
Ravitch:'A moment of national insanity', The Washington Post, March 1, 2011
In the articles Ravitch discusses the "corporate" reform movement and its untested ideas. She also laments the organized attacks against teachers in the name of reform.
Read more CNN>>
Read more Washington Post>>
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