Opinion
Federal Letter to the Editor

‘Iceberg Effect’ Authors Rebut Critic’s ‘Misguided’ Blog Post

October 20, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

Marc Tucker’s outburst attacking our recent summary report, “Iceberg Effect” was so misguided and rife with errors and misconstructions that we have issued an open letter responding point by point to the blog post.

Both organizations that issued the report—the Horace Mann League and the National Superintendents Roundtable—also wanted to address the blog post here in the pages of Education Week. The “Iceberg Effect” is a summary of our full report, “School Performance in Context: Indicators of School Inputs and Outputs in Nine Similar Nations.”

Tucker appears most distressed about one recommendation, among dozens in the document, urging a reduction in alarmist rhetoric about schools. But in his blog post, Tucker fails to deal convincingly with the quantitative evidence offered in “Iceberg Effect” and laid out completely in the full report, specifically:

The United States has the highest rates of childhood poverty in the developed world.

Social stress (including deaths from violence) is highest in the nine-nation world with which the United States is compared.

U.S. support for young families is the lowest in the developed world.

Fifty years of research demonstrates that all of these issues are strongly related to student achievement.

Rather than dealing with these issues, which are laid out in “Iceberg Effect,” Tucker’s criticism of our report instead comes perilously close to blaming schools for this nationwide social dysfunction. He seems fixated on how the United States is falling behind other countries, when we should be concentrating instead on how the United States is failing in comparison with its own values.

Tucker’s argument (and the disparaging tone accompanying it) is all the more surprising since his organization, the National Center on Education and the Economy, has produced an excellent set of recommendations in its “Nine Building Blocks for a World-Class State Education System” that we would argue track many of the recommendations in “Iceberg Effect.”

One of the giants of 20th-century British politics, Tony Benn, once said: “Hope is the fuel of progress, and fear is the prison in which you put yourself.” We vote for more hope, less fear, and yes—we vote for minimizing the alarmist rhetoric.

Charles Fowler

President

Horace Mann League

Exeter, N.H.

James Harvey

Executive Director

National Superintendents Roundtable

Seattle, Wash.

A version of this article appeared in the October 21, 2015 edition of Education Week as ‘Iceberg Effect’ Authors Rebut Critic’s ‘Misguided’ Blog Post

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Trump Picks Long-Serving State Chief With Bipartisan Fans for Top Ed. Dept. Role
Trump nominated North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler to a key post overseeing K-12 policy at the U.S. Department of Education.
5 min read
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D.
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. President Donald Trump has tapped Baesler to serve as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.
Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
Federal Opinion Education Research Is in the Trump Administration's Cross Hairs
DOGE took a "chainsaw" to the Ed. Dept's grant programs. Morgan Polikoff has four suggestions for his research colleagues.
5 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Federal Vaccine Skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Sworn in as Trump’s Health Chief
Kennedy, who has called for public health agencies to focus on chronic diseases, was sworn in after a close Senate vote.
3 min read
Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch swears in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary as Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines holds the Bible in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch swears in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary as Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines holds the Bible in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal 5 Key Takeaways From Linda McMahon's Confirmation Hearing
President Trump's education secretary nominee pledged to maintain school funding even as she works to end the U.S. Department of Education.
6 min read
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, arrives for her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025.
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week