Diane Ravich

Education Historian; Research Professor of Education, NYU

The day Diane Ravitch published her book, The Death and Life of the Great American Public School System, and made mincemeat of her former positions on accountability, standardized testing and charter schools, her allies and colleagues cried, “Left wing!”  How could the former Assistant Secretary of Education, one of the founding thinkers at the table when the reform era was born, board member on prestigious conservative think tanks, make such a public about-face and reject their fixes for American education?  Courage.  That is why Diane Ravitch received an award for the bravest thinker in the education world (2010) and makes PCM’s Top Ten Influencers list. 

With 20 books to her credit, positions held in the Bush, Sr. and Clinton education departments, and 9 honorary degrees, she has the credentials and intellectual clout to create some policy dissonance.  She says the research is in.   Reforms are not producing the results anticipated and promised.  Worse, unintended consequences, such as teaching to the test, gaming the system, lowering standards, and narrowing the curriculum, are stalling our progress, even undermining the role of public education in our democracy.  She is the most potent education leader asking publicly if Bill Gates, someone outside the electoral process, should have so much influence over public education.  Bold.

-- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List --