Ravitch on Education

Diane Ravitch talks to host Russ Roberts about the ideas in her new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Ravitch argues that accountability and choice have had unintended consequences that have done great harm to the current generation of students. She argues that reforms like No Child Left Behind have corrupted the testing process, taken time away from subjects other than math and reading, and failed to boost success in math and reading. She argues that the empirical record has provided little evidence that school choice as it has been implemented has boosted achievement. The discussion closes with a discussion of what reforms might make a difference.