[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. From 1991 to, 1993, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the President George H.W. Bush administration. Ravitch was appointed by President Clinton to the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees federal testing. She has lectured throughout the United States and ha many parts of the world, is the recipient of numerous prestigious education and literary awards, and has been awarded an honorary degree, D6ctor of Humane Letters, by several institutions. In 2010, the National Education Association selected her as its "Friend of Education" for the year.
