Bob Braun says that Pearson closely monitors students during and after testing, to protect test security. They expect educators to collaborate with the state contract with Pearson.
“Another New Jersey school district–Hanover Park Regional in East Hanover–was notified by state officials that “monitoring”–spying?– by the British test publisher Pearson revealed at least one student had used a social media account to post a forbidden message regarding the PARCC tests. No surprise, really–it’s happening everywhere, including Maryland where a state official said he gets daily reports from Pearson on what students are saying about testing on their social media accounts.
“PARCC has a very sophisticated system that closely monitors social media for pretty much everything (comments like the one you shared, test item questions that students use cell phones cameras and take),” said Henry Johnson, the state assistant education commissioner in Maryland. The state, like New Jersey, has a contract with Pearson.
“We get those reports daily.”
Let’s run that one by you again:
“PARCC has a very sophisticated system that closely monitors social media for pretty much everything….”
The phrase “pretty much everything” aptly describes the broad reach of how this brave new world of testing and cooperation with government works. Pearson will say–as it told the Washington Post–that it is doing it for “security” reasons.
But security is itself a broad term. Here is what the State of New Jersey and Pearson agreed encompassed the idea of security and its possible breach–it’s codified in the testing manual developed by the state and sent out to all the districts:
“Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication.”
Another opportunity for repetition for emphasis here–discussing? Any other form of communication?
So, if children come home from school and their parents ask–”How was your day, sweetheart?” and the children talk about a really dumb question on the PARCC, they will be violating the rules and be subject to whatever punishment is meted out for cheating–as a blogger did who learned from a child who hadn’t taken the test that there was a passage on it about The Wizard of Oz.”
New Jersey is paying Pearson $108 million to run its PARCC testing program
Meanwhile Breitbart reports that a Superintendent in New Jersey confirmed Bob Braun’s initial story about spying on students.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication.”
The East German Stasi would have been impressed by Pearson’s rules, regulations and monitoring.
Does that mean that my kids can not talk to me about what they did at school? Ridiculous!
I would love to know which DOE personnel Pearson has in their back pockets. The only reason I can come up with for this unrelenting monitoring and punishment is money. And in the meantime, Mr. Duncan is suspiciously silent on the matter. Hmmm…..
Yeah but he jumped right on the Vegara decision, didn’t he?
In Chicago, the lying Mr. Duncan denied he had anything to do with requiring PARCC, per the Chicago Sun -Times:
“U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan arrived at a South Side elementary school Thursday morning for an event — but his driver took a wrong turn down a dead-end alley, and Duncan was forced to walk half a block to the school amid protesters who’d been waiting for him to complain about standardized testing.
About 50 parents and children stood outside Ariel Community Academy so they could deliver their message to him about their opposition to the PARCC test. They chased his black SUV when it turned short of the school into an alley.
But the alley was a dead end. The SUV stopped. Duncan got out in his shirt-sleeves, his suit jacket over one arm.
He strode back up the heavily puddled alley to the nearest school entrance, smiling at the chanting (“Chicago hates the PARCC”) and signs (“Arne, Rahm, Park the PARCC, stop test bullying.”) Aside from a few pleasantries, he did not speak to the people surrounding him.
“There’s no way he didn’t see why we’re here and why we we’re protesting,” said Lynn Ankey, mother of two at Belding Elementary School on the Northwest Side. “Despite the bullying by ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) and by him to ISBE, we’re not giving up and we’re still going to stand up for our kids.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan arrived at a South Side elementary school Thursday morning for an event — but his driver took a wrong turn down a dead-end alley, and Duncan was forced to walk half a block to the school amid protesters who’d been waiting for him to complain about standardized testing.
About 50 parents and children stood outside Ariel Community Academy so they could deliver their message to him about their opposition to the PARCC test. They chased his black SUV when it turned short of the school into an alley.
But the alley was a dead end. The SUV stopped. Duncan got out in his shirt-sleeves, his suit jacket over one arm.
He strode back up the heavily puddled alley to the nearest school entrance, smiling at the chanting (“Chicago hates the PARCC”) and signs (“Arne, Rahm, Park the PARCC, stop test bullying.”) Aside from a few pleasantries, he did not speak to the people surrounding him.
“There’s no way he didn’t see why we’re here and why we we’re protesting,” said Lynn Ankey, mother of two at Belding Elementary School on the Northwest Side. “Despite the bullying by ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) and by him to ISBE, we’re not giving up and we’re still going to stand up for our kids.”
The constitutionality of these provisions in the contracts with Pearson needs to be challenged.
ACLU, are you listening?
Let’s see, will children of teachers turn in their parents for discussing the tests at home? Sounds like something out of an Orwell novel.
I mentioned something about the test once, among faculty, while we were having lunch. These were all people who had been proctoring all morning. I was reprimanded for “discussing a question”, and one teacher even asked if it was legal for us to read the test questions while giving the exam.
Ellen T Klock
The corporations and government are collecting data on everyone, emails, telephone calls, what and where you purchase things, your location, ad nauseum. This is a new low though even including children.
Brave New World indeed. Constitutional? But is it Constitutional for governments to give money through vouchers to religious schools?
What next?
Link to legislation in question:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=HB3571
Wrong post. Sorry. Is there a way to delete comments?
Once again: Post the names of all the Pearson top executives, and the names of American school officials who put loyalty to a large British company above loyalty to their students. Then we can all use social media to mock and deride them. Let them monitor that!
I received a phone call the other day but was not at the house to answer the phone. I did not recognize the number that was left on my caller ID. I did a lookup on that number. Come to find out the phone number belonged to a Pearson Corporation office in San Antonio, TX. Yep!! It was clearly ID’d as an office belonging to the money grabbing corporation in England. I guess Pearson is not happy with this ol’ boy’s comments concerning the corporation on this blog and others. But look deep in my eyes and see if you can find someone that really cares what Pearson thinks about my comments. The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights — those are my guide posts. Not threats from Pearson, New Mexico Secretary of Education Skandera and the likes. Still a free country although there are those like Pearson, Skandera, Governor Martinez and others that doing their best to take the freedoms of our Children, the Parents, and Teachers away from them.
It’s bad enough that the federal government has been spying on us (due to the wars), but to have a foreign owned private company monitor our communications with the sanctions of each state seems to go way beyond our first amendment rights.
And then what’s next? Japan getting in on the action so they can promote SONY products? Brazil monitoring our coffee intake? Columbia surveilling possible cocaine users? It’s all fair game.
I think the Supreme Court needs to weigh in on this issue.
Ellen T Klock
This is not remotely in the ballpark of the “spying” that the NSA does, Ellen. This is just watching what happens on the Internet. It may be creepy, and it may imply that privacy laws need to be updated, but we shouldn’t trivialize the truly mind-bending and/or terrifying things that governments and criminal organizations do.
Actually, it goes well beyond “just watching what happens on the Internet”
from the above post
“Here is what the State of New Jersey and Pearson agreed encompassed the idea of security and its possible breach–it’s codified in the testing manual developed by the state and sent out to all the districts:
“Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication.”
I’d say that doesn’t go “beyond” watching the Internet, but rather goes up to and including watching the Internet. It’s catch-all language designed to capture all “communications,” which would obviously include oral and written communications. Certainly it would be a “breach” of the rules if someone were to disclose test content to a student who hadn’t taken the test yet, whether over the phone or in person. That’s been the policy for standardized tests for decades or longer. The new development is the Internet and social media. That’s what poses the biggest risk to Pearson, that’s what Pearson is concerned about, and that where Pearson is focusing. Pearson isn’t hacking individual email accounts or sending out plainclothes investigators posing as students a la 21 Jump Street. It’s trying to monitor the Internet.
“Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication”
…doesn’t go beyond watching the internet?
Really??
Your internet connection must be much more powerful than mine if you can monitor all verbal exchange (in person or over phone) and email simply by “watching the internet”
I guess I wasn’t clear. That language describes a larger category of speech than just speech that happens on the Internet. If that’s what you mean by “goes beyond,” than yes, it goes beyond. If “goes beyond” means that Pearson has exceeded some precious threshold of what kind of speech was “monitored” by standardized test administrators to include types of speech “beyond” Internet speech, then no, that’s not what is happening. The new thing is the Internet and social media. The monitoring of Internet and social media speech is what “goes beyond” previous types of monitoring, not vice-versa. And apart from the semantics, the thing Pearson is actually trying to monitor is Internet and social media speech, not other kinds of speech “beyond” it.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to suggest Pearson is doing “beyond monitoring the Internet.” Do you think it’s tapping phone lines, or trying to hack individual email accounts, or hiding bugs in chandeliers? If not, what’s the point of disputing that what Pearson is doing is monitoring Internet speech?
Sorry, meant “previous,” not “precious.” Autocorrect.
The security agreement (between Pearson and State of NJ) clearly extends beyond “just watching what happens on the Internet”.
“the State of New Jersey and Pearson agreed encompassed the idea of security and its possible breach–it’s codified in the testing manual developed by the state and sent out to all the districts:
“Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication.”
What good would such a “security agreement” (that includes things “beyond” the internet like verbal exchanges) even be if the expectation (by Pearson) were not that school staff and administrators would help to implement it? (eg, by confronting and possibly disciplining students overheard discussing test items or otherwise “violating” the agreement)
It would make no sense.
“Pearson’s Eyes and Ears”
School officials are eyes and ears
For Pearson, whom the teacher fears.
They listen in for student chat
About the test, and punish that
These testing companies threaten us with our jobs and jail, yet any one who teaches in Florida saw one of the biggest screw ups. On the second day of attempting to administer the FSA, my computers crashed 30 minutes into the test. My students were told to go home and not think or talk about the test…BTW these are eighth graders. So, the next day, my students knew the prompt and had double the time of everyone else. That is rotten to the core.
Not think about the test. That’s a good one. Dostoevsky allegedly made his little brother stand in a corner until he could stop thinking of a white bear. This sounds similar – and equally impossible.
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch at the Old North Church. One if by land, two if by sea, three if by electronic surveillance.
Yesterday I received a mass email from “Randi Weingarten, AFT President.” They’re jumping on the outrage bandwagon over Pearson’s “monitoring” of social media accounts. (See below.)
Weingarten and AFT have openly embraced Common Core and have been complicit in the adoption of VAM. They didn’t call for a delay in Common Core testing until after it was obvious the tests would be a disaster. Even in the letter below, the writer is only asking for “Pearson to stop spying on students and commit to full transparency for all matters related to ‘test security.'” There’s no objection to the PARCC or SBAC tests themselves.
This kind of after-the-fact bluster really is unseemly–opportunism at its worst. AFT, instead of using their resources to ferret out Pearson’s abuses as they happen and broadcasting them to the world, they wait for an independent blogger to break the story. And then they don’t even give him credit for it.
I hope AFT gave back the money they got from the Gates Foundation. Even if they did, they’re still complicit with the “reformers.” To me, all this belated outrage is just covering up their coziness with the power brokers.
One more thing. Is the writer of this email claiming that AFT was involved in reporting this latest Pearson story? The AFT letter states, “We learned what Pearson is up to from a leaked email that a New Jersey superintendent sent to her peers after one of her students was flagged for a ‘Priority 1’ breach.”
That sentence is misleading at best, according to Bob Braun’s original reporting on his blog:
“Pearson, the multinational testing and publishing company, is spying on the social media posts of students–including those from New Jersey–while the children are taking their PARCC, statewide tests, this site has learned exclusively.”
http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/breaking-pearson-nj-spying-on-social-media-of-students-taking-parcc-tests/
I’m afraid that whoever wrote this AFT marketing email for Randi Weingarten needs to work on their attribution skills:
***
Big Brother really is watching. Outrageously, testing giant Pearson is spying on what students are saying on social media.1
Right now, students in 12 states and the District of Columbia are taking the Common Core-aligned PARCC test. And we’ve just learned that Pearson is monitoring what those students say online for “test security.”
We’re demanding that Pearson immediately stop monitoring students on social media and disclose any contract language about test security for full public review. Add your name!
This isn’t the first time Pearson has been caught engaging in unscrupulous behavior. Last year, we spoke up when we learned that Pearson’s contract in New York put a gag order2 on educators who proctored the tests, and earlier this year Politico exposed how Pearson has squeezed profits out of our schools, from Florida to Texas to California.3
Now we find out that the company is actually spying on students—many of whom are minors. It’s one thing to protect intellectual property, but this raises far too many questions.
How is Pearson monitoring students? What information about students does Pearson have, where did it get it, and what will it keep? Is Pearson reviewing everything students post? What protections are there for student privacy? What basis does Pearson use for its searches? Is the monitoring based on general search terms, or is Pearson actively following specific individuals? Who else is Pearson secretly monitoring?
Pearson must stop monitoring our children and open the books to show us who the company is watching and why.
Even if you don’t live in a PARCC state, we should all be concerned. As the largest for-profit education, testing and book publisher in the world, Pearson is involved in education in nearly every state, with testing contracts in 21 states, plus Washington, D.C., New York City and Puerto Rico. In total, 39 percent of all standardized tests in the United States are run by Pearson.4
Sadly, all of this comes back to the obsession with high-stakes tests. The results from these tests will be used to punish teachers and schools—and may even be used to hold kids back5—all while Pearson rakes in millions to create and score the tests and spy on our students.
Tell Pearson to stop spying on students and commit to full transparency for all matters related to “test security.”
We learned what Pearson is up to from a leaked email that a New Jersey superintendent sent to her peers after one of her students was flagged for a “Priority 1” breach. To make matters worse, the New Jersey Department of Education wanted the local school to discipline the student.
Parents, students and educators all have a right to know what’s happening. I hope you’ll join us in demanding that Pearson immediately stop monitoring our students and commit to full transparency around its “security” practices.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
1 Valerie Strauss, “Pearson Monitoring Social Media for Security Breaches during PARCC Testing,” “Washington Post”, March 14, 2015.
2 Michelle Davis, “AFT Goes to England to Protest ‘Gag Order’ on Test Questions,” “Education Week”, April 28, 2014.
3 Stephanie Simon, “No Profit Left Behind,” “Politico”, February 10, 2015.
4 Matthew Chingos, “Strength in Numbers” (Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, November 2012).
5 Molly Callister, “Why Los Angeles Sends Failing Students on to the Next Grade,” “Hechinger Report”, August 14, 2014.
***