Ever since the debacle of Pineapplegate, it is widely recognized by everyone other than the publishing giant Pearson that its tentacles have grown too long and too aggressive. It is difficult to remember what part of American education has not been invaded by Pearson’s corporate grasp. It receives billions of dollars to test millions of students. Its scores will be used to calculate the value of teachers. It has a deal with the Gates Foundation to store all the student-level data collected at the behest of Race to the Top. It recently purchased Connections Academy, thus giving it a foothold in the online charter industry. And it recently added the GED to its portfolio.
With the U.S. Department of Education now pressing schools to test children in second grade, first grade, kindergarten–and possibly earlier–and with the same agency demanding that schools of education be evaluated by the test scores of the students of their graduates (whew!), the picture grows clear. Pearson will control every aspect of our education system.
Today, we learned from Michael Winerip in the New York Times that Pearson has made a deal with Stanford University to license teachers, no matter what state they are in. The deal is this: the school of education is supposed to send Pearson two 10-minute videos of the prospective teacher, plus the response to a written examination. Someone in the Pearson shop–possibly a retired teacher–will evaluate the prospect and decide after a brief review, whether they should get a license to teach. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/education/new-procedure-for-teaching-license-draws-protest.html?_r=2&src=rechp
It seems the teaching candidates at U.-Mass in Amherst say they won’t do it. They prefer to be evaluated by the people who see them teach every day. Their professors prefer to use their judgment about their students, rather than to outsource it to people who will never see their students face-to-face.
This is a hopeful sign. We should never forget that we always have the power to say no. It takes courage. But it can be done. Say no.
We can say no to testing. We can say no to anything that offends our basic values. We can stop the corporatization of public education. We can stop the outsourcing of responsibility from public institutions to Pearson and other providers.
Many years ago, I interviewed a famous at MIT about the role of standardized tests in education. He said something I never forgot. He said, “Let me write a nation’s tests, and I care not who writes its songs or laws.”
Are we prepared to hand over our children, our teachers, and our definition of knowledge to Pearson?
This is the post that was lost and found. I love technology but am prone to errors. In this case, I posted, then went back to edit and add links. In doing so, I accidentally deleted the entire post. Thanks to a twitter friend at OECD in Paris, I got a copy of the post and was able to restore, along with the ability to make a few small edits. Conclusion: I write quickly, I aim for speed in posting, and I must take the time to read carefully instead of hurrying to publish without reviewing my work.
Please sing along with me.
“Oh Pearson Tests, we sing thy praise,
the core for us in student days.
By you alone we pass or fail.
You are the holy grail.”
http://www.runeman.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi/2012/05/07#testing
Kudos on the Huffington post article about the ALEC, Diane. They’re the real-life Nazis in the woodpile.
Since I lost the original post, I lost the comments as well! So I am reposting them here:
New comment on Diane Ravitch’s blog
aotpradio commented on The United States of Pearson?.
in response to dianerav:
Ever since the debacle of Pineapplegate, it is widely recognized by everyone other than the publishing giant Pearson that its tentacles have grown too long and too aggressive. It is difficult to remember what part of American education has not been invaded by Pearson’s corporate grasp. It collects billions of dollars to test millions of […]
“We should never forget that we always have the power to say no.” Excellent point, Diane. I think parents across the country are just starting to realize this.
[…] is making a play to be where states outsource educator licensing or […]
I am an ABE/GED instructor who is dealing with the Pearson Vue GED 2014 test. I need help in organizing an effective resistance movement in my state and also at the federal level.