No Love for Ed Reform?
Dr. Bettina Love's new book is a silver bullet fired at the wrong monster
In a recent piece, Dr. Bettina Love critiques the intersection of education reform and America's historically racially biased policies in other systems. The layers of her argument are intriguing, aligning the origins and legacy of education reform with the punitive “crime” reform of the past. But there's a broader context we need to consider.
Education reform, at its core, has always been about addressing disparities. The introduction of data-driven methods sought to spotlight consistently underrepresented and underserved students. It's a complex process, which requires looking at teaching quality, student assessments, and literacy and numeracy support systems. It's about giving every student a fair shot, especially those redlined into educational purgatory for decades, if not longer.
Dr. Love’s connection between a scandalously cartoonish version of “reform” and racist and punitive anti-crime policies from the last century offers a unique, if not artful, perspective. It wants you to think of education scientists whose research spurred attention to the measurable outcomes in the way that MAGA folks look at Dr. Fauci. However, if we want a fair debate, we must differentiate between policies to improve student learning and those that might have inadvertently reinforced stereotypes or further marginalized communities.
The challenges Dr. Love astutely highlights, such as the sometimes counter-productive presence of school resource officers, the inadequate representation of Black educators, and the two-tiered system of suspending students from school. But to place the blame squarely on “reform” is a political oversimplification. A good citizen will want to parse out systemic, long-standing issues from those directly resulting from modern reform initiatives.
Standardized testing, for instance, divides educators and education leaders like Moses and the Red Sea. Its potential pitfalls are clear (e.g., narrowing of curriculum). However, its value in bringing to light the disparities in education and identifying which students need the most support is undeniable. Whatever you think about the tools we use to assess students, you should admit that we are better off knowing more rather than less about how kids are doing. Similarly, charter schools — while not intended to be a panacea — have yielded positive results, particularly for urban youth, providing opportunities for students that didn’t exist before.
Where Dr. Love's perspective particularly resonates with me is in her call for reparations. The historical harms perpetrated against Black communities in America cannot and should not be ignored. The denial of quality education to the descendants of America’s enslaved people created a messy problem we still live with. I can’t see any way to correct those historical wrongs without getting access to effective education right. Beyond mere acknowledgment, a deep, systemic approach to addressing these injustices is desperately needed.
However, as we navigate the complex terrain of education reform, it's vital to maintain a balanced perspective. Reform, in many of its manifestations, seeks to address the very inequities Dr. Love rightly champions. As we critique, it's just as crucial to recognize where these efforts have made a difference as it is to highlight where they fall short. It's a nuanced conversation, but one that students across America deserve.