“The Facts about the Achievement Gap” by Diane Ravitch
One. What is Ravitch’s thesis?
Ravitch is refuting privatized schools as the “answer” to bridging the gap between the educational scores of middle-class whites and low-income minorities. She writes, “Privatization inevitably means deregulation, greater segregation, and less equity, with minimal oversight by public authorities.
Ravitch’s method is to refute the “reformers” point by point.
Here’s a summary of the reformer’s major arguments:
Reformers say blacks and Latinos must be “saved” from failing public schools.
Blacks and Latinos have made no progress for decades. She counters by saying that their scores have gone up, but white scores have gone up also, so the gap remains.
Reformers want to focus on changing schools to bridge the learning gap between the poor and the middle class. However, the problem is more systemic than bad schools. The problem is about the systemic attack on poor people who are abused, neglected, and exploited on every level of their existence. Why? Because they are powerless and they have no one defending their rights. The poor are a vulnerable resource or vulnerable prey for the Vultures of Society, and this includes this country’s shameful incarceration system.
Two. What is the difference between a micro and macro view of education?
Ravitch believes in the macro or broad view of the education crisis. She writes, “Achievement gaps begin long before children start kindergarten. On the first day of school, some children have had better medical care than others; are better nourished than others; are likelier to have a larger vocabulary because having a parent who is college educated; are likelier to have books and computers in the home; and are likelier to live in sound housing in a safe neighborhood. The children at the wrong end of the gap are likelier to attend schools in overcrowded classrooms with inadequate resources and inexperienced teachers, as compared with the children at the advantaged end of the gap, whose schools are likelier to have small classes, experienced teachers, a full curriculum, laptops, libraries, playing fields, and a full staff.”
A lot of poor children eat nothing for breakfast and then go to school. The game is already over. You’ve got hungry children in school all day. Forget it.
We can infer therefore that the privatization reformers suffer from a micro view at the poor and education when they should take a macro view.
For Ravitch, and I agree, the whole privatization approach collapses under the weight of the macro view of the poor.
Reinforcing her macro view, she quotes Thomas B. Timar of the University of California:
“Yet the gap is a symptom of larger social, economic and political problems that go far beyond the reach of the school. . . . While schools are part of the solution, they alone cannot solve the problem of educational disparities.”
Three. Did NCLB (No Child Left Behind) close the learning gap between the poor and the middle class?
No, NCLB has failed because it’s based on a micro view of poverty. In fact, NCLB is such a corrupt failure that it has failed middle-class schools as well, all the while making billions of dollars for the companies that make those tests.
Four. What is the necessary ingredient for reform?
Social capital is essential. Social capital “grows because of relationships within the school and between the school and the community. . . . Social capital is a necessary ingredient for reform, and it is built on a sense of community, organizational stability, and trust.”
In other words, there has to be something at stake. If there are no stakes—as in the condition of hopelessness and despair—then there is no social capital.
Writing Assignment Option
In a 1,000-word essay, show how Kozol’s essay, “Still Separate, Still Unequal,” complements Ravitch’s argument that we need a macro view of the educational disparity crisis. Be sure to have a counterargument section and a Works Cited page with 3 sources minimum.
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