international rankings found little evidence that frequently-proposed reform solutions had been utilized abroad. Indeed, according to researcher Marc S. Tucker, It turns out that neither the researchers whose work is reported on in this paper nor the analysts of the OECD PISA data have found any evidence that any country that leads the world‘s education performance league tables has gotten there by implementing any of the major agenda items that dominate the education reform agenda in the United States. We include in this list the use of market mechanisms such as charter schools and vouchers, the identification and support of education entrepreneurs to disrupt the system, and the use of student performance data on standardized tests to identify teachers and principals who are then rewarded on that basis for the value they add to a student‘s education or who are punished because they fail to do so. This is not to say that none of these initiatives will lead to significantly improved performance at scale. It is only to say that none of the countries that have the best records of performance have employed these strategies to get there. (Marc S. Tucker, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform, National Center on Education and the Economy, May 24, 2011, pp. 39-40.) http://www.ncee.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/05/Standing-on-the-Shoulders-of-Giants-An-AmericanAgenda-for-Education-Reform.pdf
Diane Ravitch of NYU also weighed in on certain policy proposals— including those characterized as ―market-based‖--when she recently wrote: Educators know that 100 percent proficiency is impossible, given the enormous variation among students and the impact of family income on academic performance. Nevertheless, some politicians believe that the right combination of incentives and punishments will produce dramatic improvement. Anyone who objects to this utopian mandate, they maintain, is just making an excuse for low expectations and bad teachers. (Diane Ravitch, ―Waiting for a School Miracle,‖ The New York Times, May 31, 2011.) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01ravitch.html?_r=1&src=rech p
Indiana University education professors Jonathan Plucker and David Rutkowski opined candidly on education reforms and their effects on student achievement, writing in a posting on Education Week: As would be expected, many of these reforms have been touted as the silver bullets that will result in major improvements in American education. However, the dirty little secret among researchers is that
55