Not Falling Behind, But Pulling Apart

A pithy but blazing indictment of the unjustified reform efforts that have done nothing to address the root causes of learning and opportunity gaps for our children. Only those politicians, business and educational leaders intentionally burying their heads in the sand can ignore this essay.

"Since the 1983 release of A Nation at Risk, policymakers have asserted that US students are falling behind their international peers, with dire consequences if we do not improve. The result has been three decades of increasingly high-stakes "standards-and-accountability" reforms, which rely on rigorous academic standards and test-based evaluation systems to hold schools and teachers accountable for student progress. As a comprehensive 2011 National Academy of Sciences report found, there is no evidence that this strategy has produced any meaningful improvement. Moreover, a series of recent reports suggests that we have been misinterpreting A Nation at Risk. Our education system is not so much falling behind as it is pulling apart, and the past decade of heightened accountability measures has likely further widened the gaps."

Not Falling Behind, But Pulling Apart: Race to the Top Reflects Broader U.S. Education Problems | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights