Noted education historian Diane Ravitch to deliver conference keynote

Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch, a leading voice in the national debate over corporate-style education "reform," will be the keynote speaker Oct. 18 at the 2012 Education Minnesota Professional Conference.

Ravitch is an education historian and research professor of education at New York University. She rose to prominence in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. However, Ravitch abandoned her support of policies such as the No Child Left Behind law after she realized they not only did not work but were harming schools and students.

She has since become an outspoken critic of "reform" policies such as test-based accountability, charter school expansion, vouchers and other efforts to impose a business model on public schools. Her 2010 book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," recounts how these ideas gained a foothold in American political life and how she came to repudiate them.

Accomplishments
Ravitch is a prolific writer and speaks across the country for effective changes that improve public education. Ravitch shares the "Bridging Differences" blog with Deborah Meier for Education Week. She also blogs for Politico and Huffington Post, and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines.

Ravitch has received many awards, including the National Education Association's 2010 Friend of Education award.

She appears frequently as an expert on broadcast media programs about education, including one in February on Minnesota Public Radio. In an April 2010 article in the Minnesota Educator, Ravitch urged teachers unions to stand up for reform that works.

Her long and distinguished career includes the following:

• 1991-93: assistant secretary of education and counselor to Education Secretary Lamar Alexander. As assistant secretary, she led the federal effort to promote the creation of voluntary state and national academic standards.
• 1997-2004: member, National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal testing program
• Nonresident senior fellow, Brookings Institution in Washington
• Board member, Core Knowledge Foundation, Common Core and the Albert Shanker Institute of the American Federation of Teachers

A graduate of the Houston public schools, she received a B.A. from Wellesley College in 1960 and a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1975.

The 2012 Education Minnesota Professional Conference will take place Oct. 18-19 at Saint Paul RiverCentre. It is free and open to the public.

February 14, 2012