This chapter discusses the need to improve the American education system, highlighting high school graduation requirements, well-prepared teachers, and balanced curriculums. It explores the goals set by governors, the idea of choice in education, and the impact of poverty and immigration on educational achievement. The chapter also examines the accountability and choice movements in education, questioning their reliability and discussing the shift in the speaker's stance on accountability.
Diane Ravitch of NYU talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in her new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Ravitch argues that the two most popular education reform movements, accountability and choice, have had unintended consequences that have done great harm to the current generation of students. She argues that the accountability and testing provisions in legislation like No Child Left Behind and similar reforms have actually corrupted the testing process, taken time away from subjects other than math and reading, and failed even 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 indeed make a difference.