Diane Ravitch: The Influential Historian Who Chronicles and Alters the History of American Education

Diane Silvers Ravitch’s far-reaching contributions to American education have spanned nearly a half-century. Ravitch has authored 14 books, edited an additional 11, and written hundreds of published essays that provide historical insight into public education from 1805 to the present. Ravitch’s later works chronicle the changing landscape in which she herself played a major role – first as a proponent of neoliberal and conservative reforms, and later as a champion of public schools and progressive policies. She is, therefore, unique in that she is both a historian and a maker of history. After spending 25 years as an advocate for standards, test-based accountability, and other contemporary reforms, Ravitch severed her ties with her former colleague, Chester (Checker) Finn, and conservative think tanks and publicly declared that evidence convinced her that the belief system she had championed was ineffective in improving schools. Further, she believed that reforms that included No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top were causing damage to American public education. Her most impactful work to date is the award-winning book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Undermine Education published in 2010, which marked her transition from a supporter of test-based accountability systems and charter schools to an unapologetic champion of public education. As a former advocate for market-based education reform, Ravitch was able to provide credible and unique insights into the motivations of those who were intent on transforming public education into a marketplace of privatized choice. This award-winning account of a period of rapid change in national policy was a best seller and earned Ravitch awards from the National Education Association, the Horace Mann League, the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Distinguished Service Award, and Teachers College at Columbia University. Ravitch continues to chronicle and influence American education through her writings, publishing three additional books since her seminal 2010 work. Her blog, which she publishes several times a day, has over 39 million views. She serves as President of the Network for Public Education, a national advocacy and research organization she cofounded in 2013.