Diane Ravitch slices and dices No Child Left behind

Historian/educator Diane Ravitch took off the gloves in today's Washington Post, and left no doubt as to what she thinks about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and its absurd reliance on standardized test scores.

Asked what advice she would give incoming Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Ravitch minced no words:

Signed into law in 2002, this law has turned our schools into
testing factories, narrowed the curriculum to the detriment of everything other
than reading and math, and prompted states to claim phony test score gains.

Demonstrating that, if Duncan doesn't work out, Ravitch herself should be considered for the post, she concluded by endorsing a bolder, broader approach to public education:

And when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is reauthorized, as it must be, insist that schools are accountable not only for educating their students in history, science, literature, civics, and the arts, but for safeguarding their health and development.