Published: September 1, 2006

Reform and ’Rithmetic

I agree with Ronald Wolk [ “Flawed Fixes,” May/June ] that standards and accountability—as well as the rhetoric surrounding these proposed “reforms”—will not do much to help our students. However, improving instruction and assessment are an integral part of strengthening student learning, and research backs this up. (Harvard’s Richard Elmore writes often about this topic.) Additionally, Mr. Wolk stops short of describing how we get to these “settings of human scale.” As long as we who see the holes in politicians’ rhetoric about school reform fail to propose solid alternatives, rhetoric will continue to dominate school reform.