Steve Klees
Steven J. Klees (sklees@umd.edu) is the R. W. Benjamin Professor of International and Comparative Education at the University of Maryland. He did his Ph.D. at Stanford University and has taught at Cornell University, Stanford University, Florida State University, and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil.
Prof. Klees' work examines the political economy of education and development with specific research interests in globalization, neoliberalism, and education; the role of aid agencies; education, human rights, and social justice; the education of disadvantaged populations; the role of class, gender, and race in reproducing and challenging educational and social inequality; and alternative approaches to education and development.
Private Intellectuals Sell Market Solutions
Public intellectuals have a long history of speaking out in the public interest about the issues of the day. Today we have a new phenomenon -- private intellectuals -- like Harry Patrinos, Michael Barber, and James Tooley -- who speak out against the public interest to promote the private market. Of course, they try to convince us that up is down and that market solutions in education are actually in the public interest. But what they offer is a superficial ...
Education and the U.S. Elections
Education has not featured much in the U.S. Presidential debates, nor on the campaign trail. Yet there are very significant differences between the candidates, and education is perhaps the most important issue facing any society's future. And, at present, education in the U.S. is in dire straits. There are huge inequalities. Almost half of disadvantaged children drop out before completing high school, and there is a large achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children. Moreover, international comparisons of test scores ...
Why does the World Bank hate teachers?
In an insulting, biased, and ignorant blog, Shanta Devarajan, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, blames teachers for Africa's educational problems. He points to teacher "absenteeism, neglect, and ignorance" as the culprits of low levels of student learning. Moreover, Mr. Devarajan argues that teachers, in the form of unions, actively campaign against reforms that would boost student learning. Why? Because, he says, the reforms would cause them to lose jobs to private schools. What nonsense! Given this tirade, it should come ...
Reading Mania
Economic crises are usually accompanied by conservative political efforts to cut government budgets. In education, these conservative forces often push a back-to-basics movement, and today we are seeing that in a global focus on reading. I recognize the great importance of learning to read for children and adults. I also recognize that children in developing countries, even with access to primary school, often do not learn to read beyond rudimentary levels. This has been true for decades, but in the ...
Evaluating Teachers: Value-Added Has No Value
The neoliberal politics and economics of the past thirty or so years has increasingly blamed government for society's ills. One corollary has been to promote narrow business models to evaluate government performance and to use those models to cut back government. Both of these tendencies have become more pervasive as the current economic crisis offers neoliberals an excuse to further blame, evaluate, and cut government activities. Public school teachers have been a focus for applying this neoliberal ideology. Around the world, ...