Here's what a change of heart looks like. Diane Ravitch was once one of the voices advocating NCLB and its standards and testing regime. Here is a condensed version of Dr. Diane Ravitch's "Friend of Public Education" acceptance speech given at the NEA RA Convention in New Orleans: "Public schools are the backbone of ...this democracy...High-stakes testing narrows the curriculum."

Ken Robinson: "Bring on the Learning Revolution!"
In this poignant and funny talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural
talents can flourish. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/865
(Source: TED Talks)

Educating Citizens via Technology

I wanted to share Chris Lehmann's take on educating students for the 21st Century.  Here he presents a more succinct (10 minute) version (on youtube it runs 20 minutes). You can find both on his website http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/.