This is one of the best articles you will read about Common Core and testing. It appears in the Long Island Business News. It shows the big business of testing, with a focus on Pearson.
Race to the Top, it turns out, unleashed a dash to the cash. And Pearson was the biggest winner. Since 1996, it has been buying up other companies in the testing industry. It is now the biggest provider of testing in the U. S.
You will learn about the big money behing the political decisions that affect children and why their parents want them to opt out.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Cross-posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Exclusive-Uncommon-costs-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Business_Children_Decisions_INDUSTRY-150427-641.html#comment542882, with this comment which has embedded links to this site:
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and these tests do not ‘test ‘ anything of value ” Last year, Jeff Nichols and his wife Ann Stone wrote an article
v that appeared in the New York Times about taking the “practice” version of the third-grade English language arts test. The test was sent home with one of their children as “vacation homework,” an oxymoron in itself. Both college professors, they did it for fun with two friends. All have Ph.D.s. they couldn’t agree on the right answers and concluded the test was ridiculous. They became activists in the opt-out movement. Recently, Jeff wrote a high-ranking official at the New York City Department of Education to inform him that his children will not be taking the tests this spring. The official (who was once an anti-testing activist when he was a teacher long ago) replied that parents have the right to t out but their school may be punished if the participation rate falls below 95%. Is this not a profile in courage? By the way, there is no risk that anyone at the DOE will see this blog, because the computers are set to block all WordPress sites.”
And see this one: Jon Pelto: Common Core Test Designed to Fail Most Students
https://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/27/jon-pelto-common-core-test-designed-to-fail-most-students/
Here’s a source for tracking ALL political monies.
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=2014
When I taught undergrad math, I told my students that tests were simply a means of communication between student and teacher designed to guide the instruction process, that it was a matter of some inconvenience that third parties had taken it on themselves to intrude on that two-way dialogue — but that was just the way the world was and we had to deal with it as best we could without losing sight of the main purpose of what we were about.
As things have turned out in today’s inverted world, corporations and corporate owned politicians have totally perverted the natural student-teacher relationship beyond all hope of recognition.
And it has to stop.
Or the nation will really be at risk …
Could it be…
Could it possibly be…
Do we have proof…
The cynic in me wonders out loud…
WHAT IF: Millions of children take these ToxicTests and all the rest of the familiar scenario plays out, scores arrive, 70%+ Fail, their teachers fail, Fordham Institute televises another sophomoric skit, Gates counts his GaZillions –
BUT, Pearson ACTUALLY NEVER EVER SCORES ANY OF THESE TESTS.
After all, no one can see the tests, talk about the tests, can’t even think about the tests (monitored by the Thought NAZIs) and all we see is the FINAL FAILING SCORE, or a random passing score.
What proof do we have that Pearson even bothers to score any of these tests? We assume that they are HONEST and actually score them, keep accurate data in the cloud and send us the results? Why? They can make the same $B scoring or not scoring these tests. If all that matters is $B, why bother spending $$ on scoring? For this to work, they MUST KEEP EVERYTHING A SECRET an watch us like a hawk! Well? Here we are!
Dr. Mercedes Schneider, we need your Super Sleuth skills. Please!
If I’m truly loosing it, please tell me gently.
I think this was a predictable result, and The Common Core” will be completely eclipsed and consumed by “The Common Core Tests”
“Anything good about Common Core is being eclipsed by the testing system, which is broken right now,” he said. “The sad thing is that this was terribly handled.”
I’d also love to see a breakdown on where the federal Common Core money went. Did it go to schools or to consultants and the hundreds of ed reform groups?
Reblogged this on education pathways and commented:
You definitely need to read the linked article. It gives the data for the “Follow the Money” theory I have espoused since the implementation of CCSS. The three scariest take-aways are lobbying costs, Pearson’s purchases of other companies, and Pearson’s poising itself to begin ADHD testing. Pearson earns an F on education issues and an A+ on business acumen.
Pearson is just doing what they do. They push product and they make money.
For me the real question is why did US lawmakers relinquish their entire duty and responsibility to this contractor, and why do we put up with that?
Surely we can do better than hiring people who simply find it easier to outsource their own work.
Chiara you have hit the nail. I fully agree that the problem does not rest with Pearson. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the teacher pension plans are buying their shares. It is disturbing that even the most “Educated” politician is willing to hand our national treasure over to corporations.
Please add Claude Solnik as a hero of this blog.
“the British company that helped craft the Common Core curriculum and created those tests administered in New York and much of the nation”
This quote from the article will come as a surprise to people at Achieve and the Council of Chief State School Officers who insist that there is no Common Core curriculum because the Common Core is only about standards.
And it should come as a surprise to taxpayers who paid $360 million, split between two consortiums to develop the tests and illegally authorized by Arne Duncan.
The points about money flows may be more accurate than the lines that hit me as less than stellar reporting.
Speaking of…
This is a great, great series on for-profit colleges by the Miami Herald:
“While other states have reined in unscrupulous for-profit colleges caught defrauding students, Florida has dismissed complaints and fueled the industry’s growth.”
And this:
“The agency charged with keeping for-profit colleges honest is dominated by executives from those very colleges.”
It’s absolutely rotten with state/corporate corruption, all the way down.
Read more here: http://pubsys.miamiherald.com/static/media/projects/2015/higher-ed-hustle/index.html#storylink=cpy
And Governor Cuomo has the nerve to say public schools are a monopoly.
Yes , this is a brilliant article. Pearson’s next takeover goal will likely be our teacher training colleges! Academics beware!!! Diane please warn them.
Don’t forget that candidate Bush is a big part of this!
@plunkshop. According to the “pudding” NEA and AFT gave approx. $480 million to Democratic Candidates in 2014. That is only 2 out 50 major donors. Republicans got $950 million of all 50 donors. Either Democrats are lying to their teeth and don’t give a damn about education or Republicans are being shrewd with money which is the chief end, nonetheless. I defend no position other than that of waking up and shifting control of education back on a local level.
“pudding” That’s a new one to me, please explain the meaning.
TIA
proof
Sharon Robinson, CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education was a well-paid member of the board of the notoriously corrupt Corinthian Colleges that have defrauded students spawning major federal investigations.
Thanks. Here’s more:
“Robinson joined the Corinthian board in January 2011, at a time when the for-profit college industry was lobbying Congress and the White House intensely for the Obama administration to weaken its proposed “gainful employment” rule, aimed at cutting off federal aid to career education programs that consistently leave students with insurmountable debt. The industry has used a chunk of the $33 billion it receives each year from taxpayers to buy influential endorsers, and the presence of a well-credentialed education leader like Robinson on the Corinthian board could have been a useful selling point for industry lobbyists. The administration did end up issuing, in June 2011, a substantially weaker rule than was contained in its previous proposals. (The for-profit colleges then managed to get a federal judge to strike down the rule, forcing the administration to start over, which is why the fight over gainful employment is now again in full swing.)”
She’s also a former US Assistant Sec of Ed.
There is one bright spot. Those stock options she received aren’t worth very much 🙂
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/head-of-teachers-college_b_5078769.html
Reblogged this on stopcommoncorenys.
Thank you Diane Ravitch for sharing this important article from the Long Island Business News. I also commend the editorial in the same issue from Joe Dowd, the Editor of LIBN who writes, “Meanwhile the state, which forced this down the throats of our children, took federal money to do the company’s bidding. Pearson not only produces the tests but the preparatory and remedial materials necessary to implement them. We pay for this through our taxes and parental angst.
Our kids received no pay, no timely results – merely the pain of mind-numbing test-taking for hours, answering questions with very questionable answers. Incredibly, this disgraceful form of mind management is designed as an evaluation of teachers, not actually their students.
Common Core: Think of it as forced child labor. Our nation fought for laws that made child labor illegal.”
Read more: http://libn.com/2015/04/23/joe-dowd-casualties-of-common-core/#ixzz3YZdpl8Xo
“Race to the Top, it turns out, unleashed a dash to the cash.”
TAGO!!