Testing expert Fred Smith sends out a warning to parents in Néw York City: Pearson field tests begin Monday.
But keep it a secret. No one knows. The scores don’t count because the tests are testing the questions, not the teachers.
Should parents be told? Shouldn’t they give consent? Should Pearson pay the students?
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Maybe the parents can ask their kids about the questions, and then maybe we can all have a look. Clearly the parents have not submitted to any gagging order.
Shhhhhh!!!!
It’s a secret…this way the education reformers can continue to collect public taxpayer dollars, and by the time it is determined to have been an illegal operation, those who have profited will have long gone…
…and have moved on to greener pastures!!!
Why not pay the kids? They’d probably give it a real whirl, and Pearson could get a read on their test questions without bothering the rest of us.
A letter was sent home to parents at my daughter’s school last week. We were told that if we had opted out of the state exams our children would automatically be opted out of the field test. All parents were also given an option to opt their children out of the field test.
I agree with you, Melissa- they should pay our students!
Yes, they should pay the students. As it stands now, Pearson is getting a free field test of their software and their tests.
This is similar to high school kids paying over $90 per AP test to College Board, and then College Board having local school systems give the AP tests at no cost to the College Board.
Would caring parents allow a physician to experiment on their child without their informed voluntary consent? How about a drug company? But, yet it is OK to experiment on our children who are not volunteers, or informed? The company may say that they are testing their questions, but let’s be clear, they are experimenting on our children to see how they will respond to their questions.