There’s been quite a circus this week over Diane Ravitch’s observation that union-bashers who are also test-score fetishists are bashing up the wrong tree, since, Ravitch notes, Finland tops the world in test scores and has one of the world’s strongest teacher unions. Stateside, Ravitch adds, Massachusetts likewise leads the nation in both test scores and teacher union strength, while Southern states without teacher unions are also without test scores to brag about.
Ravitch’s remark fanned a fire of responses on the right-wing Flypaper blog, culminating in Jay Greene’s citation of a study he claims proves her wrong.
Rather than point you to that firestorm, though, I think you’ll have more fun starting with Leo Casey’s post for two reasons: 1) It promises a follow-up on “good reasons to be skeptical about all broad stroke generalizations about teacher unionism and educational achievement, whatever the scholarly apparatus supporting them”; and 2) the title of the post, coming from this teacher union blog, is a punny little gem in itself.
photo by Arnett Gill
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