{"product_id":"the-language-police-how-pressure-groups-restrict-what-students-learn-paperback","title":"The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn - Paperback","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\u003eIf you're an \u003cb\u003eactress\u003c\/b\u003e or a \u003cb\u003ecoed\u003c\/b\u003e just trying to do a\u003cb\u003e man-size job\u003c\/b\u003e, a \u003cb\u003eyes-man\u003c\/b\u003e who \u003cb\u003eturns a deaf ear\u003c\/b\u003e to some \u003cb\u003esob sister\u003c\/b\u003e, an \u003cb\u003eheiress \u003c\/b\u003eaboard her \u003cb\u003eyacht\u003c\/b\u003e, or a \u003cb\u003ebookworm\u003c\/b\u003e enjoying a \u003cb\u003eboy's night out\u003c\/b\u003e, Diane Ravitch's internationally acclaimed \u003cb\u003eThe Language Police\u003c\/b\u003e has bad news for you: Erase those words from your vocabulary  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTextbook publishers and state education agencies have sought to root out racist, sexist, and elitist language in classroom and library materials. But according to Diane Ravitch, a leading historian of education, what began with the best of intentions has veered toward bizarre extremes. At a time when we celebrate and encourage diversity, young readers are fed bowdlerized texts, devoid of the references that give these works their meaning and vitality. With forceful arguments and sensible solutions for rescuing American education from the pressure groups that have made classrooms bland and uninspiring, \u003cb\u003eThe Language Police\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a powerful corrective to a cultural scandal.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore Anton Chekhov and Mark Twain can be used in school readers and exams, they must be vetted by a bias and sensitivity committee. An anthology used in Tennessee schools changed \"By God!\" to \"By gum!\" and \"My God!\" to \"You don't mean it.\" The New York State Education Department omitted mentioning Jews in an Isaac Bashevis Singer story about prewar Poland, or blacks in Annie Dillard's memoir of growing up in a racially mixed town. California rejected a reading book because The Little Engine That Could was male. \u003cbr\u003eDiane Ravitch maintains that America's students are compelled to read insipid texts that have been censored and bowdlerized, issued by publishers who willingly cut controversial material from their books--a case of the bland leading the bland. \u003cbr\u003eThe Language Police is the first full-scale expose of this cultural and educational scandal, written by a leading historian. It documents the existence of an elaborate and well-established protocol of beneficent censorship, quietly endorsed and implemented by test makers and textbook publishers, states, and the federal government. School boards and bias and sensitivity committees review, abridge, and modify texts to delete potentially offensive words, topics, and imagery. Publishers practice self-censorship to sell books in big states. \u003cbr\u003eTo what exactly do the censors object? A typical publisher's guideline advises that \u003cbr\u003e- Women cannot be depicted as caregivers or doing\u003cbr\u003ehousehold chores.\u003cbr\u003e- Men cannot be lawyers or doctors or plumbers.\u003cbr\u003e They must be nurturing helpmates.\u003cbr\u003e- Old people cannot be feeble or dependent; they\u003cbr\u003e must jog or repair the roof.\u003cbr\u003e- A story that is set in the mountains discriminates\u003cbr\u003eagainst students from flatlands.\u003cbr\u003e- Children cannot be shown as disobedient or in\u003cbr\u003e conflict with adults.\u003cbr\u003e- Cake cannot appear in a story because it is not\u003cbr\u003e nutritious. \u003cbr\u003eThe result of these revisions are--no surprise!--boring, inane texts about a cotton-candy world bearing no resemblance to what children can access with the click of a remote control or a computer mouse. Sadly, data show that these efforts to sanitize language do not advance learning or bolster test scores, the very \u003cbr\u003ereason given for banning allegedly insensitive words and topics. \u003cbr\u003eRavitch offers a powerful political and economic analysis of the causes of censorship. She has practical and sensible solutions for ending it, which will improve the quality of books for students as well as liberating publishers, state boards of education, and schools from the grip of pressure groups. \u003cbr\u003ePassionate and polemical, The Language Police is a book for every educator, concerned parent, and engaged citizen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiane Ravitch is a historian of education and Research Professor of Education at New York University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She was assistant secretary in charge of research in the U.S. Department of Education in the administration of President George H. W. Bush and was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board by President Bill Clinton. The author of seven previous books on education, including the critically acclaimed \u003cb\u003eLeft Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform\u003c\/b\u003e, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 288\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.64 x 8.04 x 5.32 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 11, 2004\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52514107916595,"sku":"9781400030644","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/vAamrsjYEl9781400030644.webp?v=1760381687","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/the-language-police-how-pressure-groups-restrict-what-students-learn-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}