Commentary: Ravitch lecture flawed

After listening to popular educational historian Diane Ravitch lecture at Lehigh in support of public education, Craig Hochbein, assistant professor of Educational Leadership at Lehigh, defended the College of Education’s invitation, but questioned the content the activists’ arguments.

Ravitch had crafted her lecture as an imaginary debate with a fictitious school reformer, and argued that public schools are not failing as her “Mr. Reformer” suggested. To defend her position, Ravitch cited National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores and graduation rates, which are at their highest in U. S. history.

Like Ravitch, Hochbein has routinely challenged the effectiveness of some popular school reforms.  However, in a commentary published online at WHYY Newsworks, he expressed disappointment that Ravitch had constructed such a weak adversary in “Mr. Reformer”.

“As a formidable scholar and debater, I question why she (Ravitch) would not construct an adversary worthy of her time and efforts, not to mention her audience and hosts,” Hochbein wrote.

“Likely resulting from the ineptitude of her challenger, Ravitch’s remarks routinely omitted pertinent and substantive evidence,” he said.

To read Hochbein’s entire commentary, go to Newsworks.