New York Times seeks letters on a student's call for education revolution Free

New York Times: For this week's Sunday Dialogue, the Times is inviting brief responses (sent to [email protected] by 11 October) about a 10 October letter calling US education policy "a disaster." The author, high school senior Nikhil Goyal, also published the book One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment of School. His letter charges that the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, with its focus on standardized tests, narrowed the curriculum, "shaving instruction time in the arts, music, science and history" and transforming schools "into test-preparation factories" with "ruthless accountability measures." He alleges "bribes and threats" at the measures' core. He calls the Obama-era Race to the Top "No Child Left Behind on steroids," with the pressure "gone haywire," cheating scandals mushrooming, and a "dehumanized" teaching profession. "Reforms are not enough," Goyal asserts. "Only a revolution will suffice."