History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
The next victim of the Department of Education’s campaign of blame? Parents!
- 12-01-2010
-
Guest blog by Maja Wilson/Washington Post
We have been told repeatedly that our educational system is broken. Our response to this news says more about us than the news itself. If our children are indeed suffering, it might make sense to offer them what they need. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and others in the school reform movement have engaged in a ceaseless campaign to demand “accountability” -- in other words, to figure out whom to blame. This campaign has hinged on merciless and increased standardized testing of our children. The results of these tests form the basis for sanctions doled out to whomever is currently deemed guilty. Recent victims of these sanctions include students, teachers, administrators, and entire school districts. Confronted with evidence that the accountability movement has undermined rather than improved education—by narrowing the curriculum, diverting resources from educating to testing, and putting anxiety rather than intellectual curiosity at the center of the educational process—the DOE simply looks for more parties to blame. (more…)
Send this
Print this
