Reflection on Reign of Error, Essay Example

In her book, “Reign of Error,” Dr. Ravitch focuses more on the privatization movement that has falsely led many individuals to believe that schools are failing. Scores obtained by students constantly change every year and this happens as a result of the changes that are made within the tests, and the learning requirements necessary. As we take a closer look as to other agencies that have opted to analyze the knowledge and skills of students in both English and Mathematics we find a constant and steady increase over the last few decades. As a result of this increase from decade to decade the standardized scores in recent years are at an all-time high. Similarly, graduation find themselves at their peak, which in turn has led to the highest enrollment in college of history as a result of students fearing that they might not have a prominent future without having a college education. (

Children from Hispanic, African American, and Indian decent, however, continue to be left behind in this progressive move forward. The “black-white gap”, as Ravitch analyzes within her book, became narrower during the time of desegregation but is slowly creeping back as it is often found to be “normal” for white students to perform better in these tests. Market competition has not helped and has led to changes in other areas as well. Charter schools should be seized as Ravitch mentions that they have an uneven record. These schools have all sorts of students but charge incredible amounts of money while exemplifying similar test results as the public schools. The few that can show that they have true talent often get this talent from a rigorous admittance process and often do not allow children with disabilities to ernoll. Others take out problematic students so that they may not conflict with the average of the standardized scores. As a result of the aforementioned we are led to wonder, are institutions really giving a fair treatment that allows any individual to succeed if they work hard for what they want?

References

Ravitch, D. (2013). Reign of error: The hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to America’s public schools.