I just learned through Charles Olson’s blog about a recent laudatory New York Times Magazine article about Ruby Payne, a writer and workshop leader on education issues.  Charles has a very different take on it than I do, but I would like to thank him for pointing out the article.

I have serious concerns about Ruby Payne’s perspective on the challenges facing low-income families, one that I would characterize as “blaming the victim.”I believe that many School Districts, teachers, and, most importantly, students, are ill-served by the advice she offers.

This, I think, is a particular concern to readers of this blog since so many English Language Learners come from low-income communities.

I would encourage people to read an excellent critique of Ruby Payne’s work that recently appeared in Rethinking Schools and was written by Paul Gorski.

I, however, don’t believe I have a monopoly on the truth, so would be very interested in hearing other perspectives about her work.