{"product_id":"an-education-how-i-changed-my-mind-about-schools-and-almost-everything-else-hardcover","title":"An Education: How I Changed My Mind about Schools and Almost Everything Else - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDiane Ravitch\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor many years, Diane Ravitch was among the country's leading conservative thinkers on education. The cure for what ailed the school system was clear, she believed: high-stakes standardized testing, national standards, accountability, competition, charters, and vouchers. Then Ravitch saw what happened when these ideas were put into practice and recanted her long-held views. The problem was not bad teachers or failing schools, as conservatives claimed, but poverty. She denounced privatization as a hoax that did not help students and that harmed the public school system. She urged action to address the root causes of inequality. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this intimate and timely memoir of her life's work as a historian and advocate, Ravitch traces her ideological evolution. She recounts her personal and intellectual journey: her childhood in Houston, her years among the New York intelligentsia, her service in government, and her leftward turn. Ravitch shares how she came to hold conservative views and why she eventually abandoned them, exploring her switch from championing standards-based curriculum and standardized testing to arguing for greater investment in professional teachers and in public schools. Bringing together candid reflections with decades of research on education, Ravitch makes a powerful case for becoming, as she calls herself, \"an activist on behalf of public schools.\"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiane Ravitch is a historian of education and a prominent commentator about education and politics. Her many books include \u003ci\u003eReign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools\u003c\/i\u003e (2013); \u003ci\u003eThe Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education\u003c\/i\u003e (2010); and \u003ci\u003eThe Great School Wars: New York City, 1805-1973\u003c\/i\u003e (1974). Ravitch was assistant secretary of education under President George H. W. Bush and served on the national testing board during the Clinton administration. She is cofounder and president of the Network for Public Education.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 248\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.1 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 21, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51987498893613,"sku":"9780231220293","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/vmi6rryrNY9780231220293.webp?v=1776179076","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/an-education-how-i-changed-my-mind-about-schools-and-almost-everything-else-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}