Diane Ravitch
(Austin, TX) – Friends of Texas Public School is honored to host Dr. Diane Ravitch, the foremost authority on the destructive effects of high stakes testing and privatization. Diane Ravitch is an outspoken advocate for public education. Dr. Ravitch was the 2014 Friends of Texas Public Schools Friend of the Year honoree, author of Reign of Error and former Undersecretary of Education for George H. W. Bush.
Scott Milder, Friends Co-Founder & CEO said “the high stakes testing craze that has been imposed on students and educators by some politicians and testing companies has been cancerous in our system of public education. We are thankful to Diane Ravitch for her unrelenting advocacy for meaningful and appropriate student assessment that is not punitive, but rather complementary to the efforts of gifted educators across Texas.”
Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. Her Blog, dianeravitch.net, and has received more that 17 million hits in 30 months. From 1991 to 1993, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. She was responsible for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. As Assistant Secretary, she led the federal effort to promote the creation of voluntary state and national academic standards.
From 1997 to 2004, she was a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal testing program. She was appointed by the Clinton administration’s Secretary of Education Richard Riley in 1997 and reappointed by him in 2001. From 1995 until 2005, she held the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution and edited Brookings Papers on Education Policy. Before entering government service, she was Adjunct Professor of History and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Friends will host Diane Ravitch on Wednesday, March 29 at 6:30 pm at Austin Marriott North in Round Rock. For more details about the event, please contact Jennifer Storm at stormj@fotps.org. Visit the event website at www.fotps.org/events.