InBloom is very controversial, to say the least. This is the collaboration funded by the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation, to gather confidential student data and aggregate it into a massive database. The actual work will be done by Wireless Generation, which is part of Joel Klein’s Amplify, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Many parents are unhappy about the release of their child’s data without their written consent. Presumably, the information will be used to create and market new technologies directly to schools and students.
Here is an article supporting inBloom, written by the head of the Colorado Education Association. CEA received funding from the Gates Foundation in 2012 and 2013.)
The article provoked some lively comments.
One of my favorites:
“I will tell you the precise moment when I will perhaps re-consider my view of InBloom as a troubling and pernicious development in the education of our nation’s public school children: when Lakeside Prep in Seattle, Sidwell Friends in DC and other august and prestigious private academies decide they want their students to be signed up for this racket. Otherwise they will remain separate and apart from the commoners’ children in the public schools, of course. It must be easy to dictate policies that only affect other people’s children.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
How sad to be pimping for Gates, Klein and Murdoch. If a teacher can’t assess and get to know their students as individuals then they shouldn’t be teaching unless, of course, they are trapped in test prep hell.
Yes, put the personal data of Sasha, Malia and the Gates children in cloud space first.
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This is the head of the NEA in Colorado which, as you point out, is heavily funded by the Gates Foundation. Why the double standard Diane? The AFT is also heavily funded by the Gates Foundation and is promoting Common Core in all its publications, yet you have to problem defending the AFT.
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The reformers are slick/sick. They pair a seductive component ($) with their controlling and oppressive agendas. Their elixir may taste sweet but it will doom any autonomy you have left as a teacher and destroy the privacy of students with potentially devastating results.
““Power in the hands of the reformer is no less potentially corrupting than in the hands of the oppressor.”
― Derrick A. Bell, Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth
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See ny times link at the bottom. Klein was pushing this educrap exactly one year ago. I commented and here is a slightly revised version which I need to mail directly to him. Notice his quote about teachers embracing or accepting his snake oil:
He added, “I’m candid that if this isn’t embraced by teachers in America, it won’t work.”
Dear Mr. Klein:
I am an educator and a parent and I don’t embrace anything being promoted and sold by you or Murdoch. You do not care about children, teaching and learning. You care about profits, profits, profits.
Stay away from our children. I don’t trust anyone associated with a company that hacked into the cell phone of a missing, murdered 13 year old.
I will collect and track student results the old fashioned way. I will get to know each of my students as individuals with dreams, strengths, goals and opinions. We will create individual portfolios with writing samples and journal entries. We will read fiction, non fiction, memoirs, news articles, essays, short stories, poems. We will share ideas, opinions and create long term projects: research, book trailers, original plays, book blogs, etc.
As a teacher it is my responsibility to be data informed NOT data driven. I promise you I will not waste time staring at a computer, tablet or wireless device.
Instead I will look at my students and see and hear them. So, I will tell you know I take a pass on your “digital learning tools” and instead I will use my brain, my instincts and my 27 years of teaching experience to guide me,
something the faux reformers (you, Rhee, Bloomberg, Gates) know nothing about.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/news-corporation-forms-new-brand-for-education-division/
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As a parent, I am concerned by the need for teachers to need such data. I know how my kids are doing, my kids’ teachers know how they are doing. Is this data necessary because class size has gotten out of control due to lack of funding? Yet, our money goes to a data system, instead of more teachers to decrease class sizes.
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testing, 1,2,3
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When students say “I get it”, sounds like it must be a joke that they are getting.
Learning is a process that should have no beginning and no end. The letter in support of INBLOOM has all of the quality of a marketing piece. What teacher is able to go into all of those web sites to compare each child when all they have to do is open their eyes and ears with a small dose of compassion.
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One “Anonymous” hack and the entire system would be shut down…hmmmmm?
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Another encomium from another apparatchik.
BTW, I have a GREAT marketing idea for getting the message out about education reform: What if the teacher’s unions in the United States held a contest to find out who among their leadership loves Big Brother the most? This little essay from the head of the Colorado Education Association would make a FABULOUS entry!
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Corporate reform/welfare is creating a growing backlash among parents, taxpayers and educators against inBloom’s database scheme, Common Core, the standardized testing complex and mass produced corporate curriculum kits. It seems Ms. Dallman was recruited to serve as Amplify’s (inBloom) cheerleader in Colorado to generate profits for News Corp’s shareholders. Klein, Murdoch and Gates throw money at anyone they perceive will become a corporate tool. Billions are riding on buying out Dallman and others like her.
E-mail the inBloom cheerleader at this address: kdallman@coloradoea.org
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I had a conversation with a well educated parent of a private school student. When I told the parent the SAT’s would be aligned to CCSS & that private schools would be aligned the parent said, “Don’t you think everyone should have an opportunity for a good education? Now students in most states & within states will have the same knowledge. I think it’s a good idea!”
I said “You must be a Democrat & live in NYC.” The parent acknowledged this was so and added, “But I’m very close to a well known Republican leader in another state.” and?????
Why wouldn’t private school parents be for CCSS? Their kids are enriched (beyond CCSS) in school & at home. Learning time isn’t wasted on testing. They can learn what they need for CCSS & more.
CCSS will increase the achievement gap.
Plus — those with money with kids in private schools are the ones making money on CCSS via small cap & CCSS laden hedge fund investments.
It’s all so wrong.
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The Gates Foundation buys associations in the US for propaganda/profits like Murdoch buys information from police officers in the UK to increase profits.
CEA and Dallman at the association’s helm have been paid to “de-bunk myths” by the Gates foundation. Readers need to know background on why Dallman wrote about her “opinion” with ZERO financial disclosure.
http://maps.foundationcenter.org/rc/grants/html/49539.html
The Colorado Education Association Foundation Denver, Colorado, United States of America
coloradoea.org
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
$100,000
08/07/12 – 02/01/13
6 months
12/31/12
to augment communications to teachers, de-bunk myths, create teacher buy-in for SB 191
and College Ready Work tools in integration pilot districts
North America
U.S. Program
Project Support
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An Open Letter to CEA President Kerrie Dallman:
http://teacherbiz.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/an-open-letter-to-cea-president-kerrie-dallman/
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Diane, I continue to be disappointed that you haven’t reached out to Jefferson County to have a conversation about inBloom and how Jeffco intends to handle it. I’m disappointed that you’re willing to make presumptions without talking to the district.
In contrast to your presumptions, I actually talked to administrations in charge of IT at Jeffco and specifically asked whether third-party companies might be able to access my 8-year-old’s data and use it to directly market new educational products to her. He said no, that would not be the case. He and the superintendent have both been very clear that the district will make decisions about who has access to which data points. You may have noticed that one of the comments on the article was from Jeffco Schools and it stated the same thing.
I’ve talked with the district because I’m a parent and because I want to have the full story before I jump to conclusions. Yes, I have concerns about the long-term implications, but I don’t see technology in and of itself in any form as an all-or-nothing proposal. Perhaps if high-stakes testing and draconian school accountability measures were dropped, inBloom wouldn’t seem as threatening? I’d rather focus my energies on those.
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How do you believe inbloom will help your child?
How will this improve his of her learning?
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Lisa,
Once your child’s confidential data is part of a massive data set, your Jeffco administrator has no control over it. It will be in a data cloud managed by amazon, and inBloom offers no assurance that the data will not be hacked. If you are okay with putting your child’s data into that data mine, that’s your choice. Other parents would prefer the right to say no. Do you think it is right to deny them their right to protect their child’s privacy?
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Some parents in Colorado are drinking Murdoch’s Kool Aid. Parents like Lisa need to wonder why Murdoch’s children’s data and Gates’ children’s data are not included in the for-profit inBloom database if there’s potential for personalized learning and education innovation.
Taxpayers need to ask how many millions in state and federal grants (corporate welfare) have been funneled to Wireless Generation, Amplify, the Shared Learning Collaborative and inBloom.
Money and power motivate Murdoch and Gates. They worked together with Duncan to change laws (FERPA) for their own selfish interests and the financial interests of News Corp’s shareholders.
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