Reform Archives - Alfie Kohn

Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE)

Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE) A CALL FOR AN AUTHENTIC STATE-WIDE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM Education Reform in Massachusetts began with high hopes. As educators, parents, and citizens, we believe those hopes have been eroded by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests. These tests have disrupted our classrooms and schools and diverted valuable resources away from efforts that ... Read More

Poor Teaching for Poor Children … in the Name of Reform (##)

EDUCATION WEEK April 27, 2011 Poor Teaching for Poor Children … in the Name of Reform By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] Love them or hate them, the proposals collectively known as “school reform” are mostly top-down policies: divert public money to quasi-private charter schools, pit states against one another in a race ... Read More

How to Sell Conservatism: Lesson 1 — Pretend You’re a Reformer (##)

If you somehow neglected to renew your subscription to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, you may have missed a couple of interesting articles last year. A series of studies conducted by two independent groups of researchers (published in the September and November 2009 issues, respectively) added to an already substantial collection of evidence showing that “people are motivated . . . (Read More)

What Passes for School Reform: “Value-Added” Teacher Evaluation and Other School Reform Absurdities (##)

The less people know about teaching and learning, the more sympathetic they’re likely to be to the kind of “school reform” that’s all the rage these days. Look, they say, some teachers (and schools) are lousy, aren’t they? And we want kids to receive a better education — including poor kids, who typically get the . . . (Read More)

Test Today, Privatize Tomorrow

PHI DELTA KAPPAN April 2004 Test Today, Privatize Tomorrow Using Accountability to "Reform" Public Schools to Death By Alfie Kohn I just about fell off my desk chair the other day when I came across my own name in an essay by a conservative economist who specializes in educational issues. The reason for my astonishment is that I was described ... Read More

Confusing Harder With Better (**)

EDUCATION WEEK September 15, 1999 Confusing Harder With Better By Alfie Kohn Never underestimate the power of a catchy slogan and a false dichotomy. When a politician pronounces himself a supporter of "law and order" or "a strong defense," you may protest that it's not that simple, but even as you start to explain why, you've already been dismissed as ... Read More