Chris Wallace on Fox News interviewed Laura Slover, identified as the CEO of the federally funded PARCC.
The interview–and the description of Common Core and PARCC on the Fox website–repeats common myths about both.
This is how PARCC is described:
“PARCC is one of two nonprofits set up by states to test how students are measuring up to Common Core education standards.”
But PARCC and the other testing program were not created by the states. They were both created by the U.S. Department of Education with a grant of $360 million.
No mention of the fact that numerous states have backed out of PARCC. It started with 24 states. Now it’s down to 12 states and D.C.
And then comes a slew of bogus claims. See how many you can count:
Slover says:
“”I think it’s vital that we set a high standard for kids, because if we build it, they will come,” Slover said. “If we expect a lot of kids, they rise to the occasion.”
“Wallace noted that the main complaint about Common Core testing is that it is part of a federal takeover of local schools.
Slover asserted that it’s actually a state-driven program, and states make all the decisions.
“As a parent, I can understand why there are concerns about testing,” Slover said, adding that she wants her daughter taking the tests. “I want to be sure she’s learning. I want to be sure she’s on grade level. And I want to be sure she knows how to do math and is prepared for the next grade.”
“She asserted that for far too long a child’s success has been determined by their parents’ income level and where they grew up.
“We think it’s critical that kids all have opportunities, whether they live in Mississippi or Massachusetts or Colorado or Ohio,” Slover said. “They should all have access to an excellent education. And this is a step in the right direction.”
Biggest bogus claim: if all kids have the same standards and same tests, all children will learn the same things in the same way and will have high test scores. The path to an excellent education requires standardization.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Fox-TV offers the damaged and declining CCSS/PARCC cabal national exposure to prop up its message and appeal. Such corporate media are powerful channels to counter the bottom-up, minor and social media avenues fighting privatization and standardization. We’re winning this war of public discourse though the other side has the big guns and big money. We’re undermining the credibility and appeal of the Duncan-Obama education policy. When a growing parent opt-out movement joins with a teacher wildcat strike movement and a student walk-out movement, this war will end and we can then start rebuilding the public sector into democratic schooling and child-centered units we want for our kids and our society.
LikeLike
Look for more of these scripted lies coming down the pike in preparation for the elections.
Slover transitioned from her job as senior VP for Achieve where, among other duties, she was in charge of managing PARCC (2012). The PARCC states were floundering with no clear administrative structure. A non-profit was formed to address this problem. Slover was moved to the newly formed “non-profit PARCC” to shore things up. I think this lateral nudge and non-profit structure emerged from a USDE review of progress on contracting for test development. The new administrative structure also meant that PARCC could receive money if the consortium wanted an afterlife beyond the first roll-out of the USDE funded tests.
LikeLike
A parent doesn’t need test results to show if a child is learning or not.
For instance, we knew that our daughter was learning in school K-12, because she was doing the work and earning all A’s—we saw the work everyday. She was also reading books at home every day instead of watching TV or texting her friends because she didn’t have any way to watch TV or text her friends. As parents we set limits. As parents we drove her to the library on a regular basis. As a family, we ate dinner together with no TV or ear buds. We talked with her probably 30 minutes a day minimum and often longer.
I think a parent who relies only on test results is not doing their job as a parent when it comes to a child’s education. I question Slover’s parenting skills, and her ability to be fooled or be a bald-faced liar.
LikeLike
Observing my students as well as carefully tracking how they do on class assignments and my teacher made tests tells me far more about my students’ progress than any standardized test would. Thank heavens I do not have to test my 1st graders at this point in time and I pray that it stays that way. The CCSS are developmentally inappropriate for early childhood students.
LikeLike
What??? Fox news covered a story in a totally misleading and disingenuous way? I am shocked, shocked to learn this…
LikeLike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmbt4z_Rst8
LikeLiked by 1 person
These schools must be closed down.
But we have no excuse to close them.
Then find one.
LikeLike
Then find one!
That’s it exactly. If the teachers aren’t incompetent and the school are not really failing, find ways to make them look incompetent and failing.
LikeLike
“Slover than Most”
If we build it, they will come
If we don’t, then they’ll be dumb
If we set the standard high
Every kid will reach the sky
LikeLike
Hey –Remember that Rupert Murdoch owns Fox! So even though a ‘conservative’ station it will not slam Common Core, the testing or anything else that can affect Murdoch’s bottom line or his predicted $500 Billion profit from Common Core sales.
This is disgusting.
But AT LEAST FOX SHOULD INTERVIEW DIANE RAVITCH TO DISPUTE THESE CLAIMS.
LikeLike
“Murdoch’s bottom line or his predicted $500 Billion profit from Common Core sales” Are you for real? Is there a single entity/corporation in this world that makes $500 Billion a year profit ever? The entire K-12 education system uses about $600 Billion a year.
What is disgusting is the lack of knowledge displayed by bloggers here in this blog.
LikeLike
Raj,
Are you referring to Joan’s comment when you are talking about bloggers lack of knowledge. If you reread her comment it says that Murdoch’s from Common Core sales will be $500 billion. Somehow you made the assumption that she is saying $500 billion a year and then you freaked out about it.
LikeLike
$500 Billion dollar profit means the overall investment in CC should be way much higher than the entire system of education system in the US. Your quantitative comparison with lack of knowledge adds nothing but absurdity–as always.
LikeLike
Raj,
What Murdoch said was that education is a $500 billion enterprise ready for entrepreneurs to exploit
LikeLike
Diane,
“Murdoch’s bottom line or his predicted $500 Billion profit from Common Core sales.”
LikeLike
Raj,
Hyperbole: n. noun
1. exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
LikeLike
Nice. It well explains for a person who makes a catcall for green buck counting by deliberately confusing moral obligation to public service with Wall Streeter’s privilege for private investment. Quite telling for someone who doesn’t really know what WS looks like in the first place–compared to his/her state– and why people like Rupert Murdock belong there are doing this kind of self-serving promotion.
LikeLike
& who knows where Laura Slover sends her children to school?
LikeLike
Ms. Slover has no idea about what she is talking about. Her child is in Pre K and there is no possible way for her to understand the detrimental nature of the testing or the frantic and stressful prep leading up to the test. Until one experiences it firsthand it is hard to know. Until one volunteers in a K-12 classroom it is impossible to see the scared and shrugged shoulders of the children being confronted by test and homework questions that are developmentally inappropriate . She has a long way to go before she gains a clear understanding of child development. Eventually she will see that she was wrong . May she have the humility to admit it.
LikeLike
Gag me. And we call ourselves the UNITED States of America. There is nothing UNITED about this country except the TOP 1%’s GREED.
LikeLike
Since when does a TEST guarantee equal opportunity? It might reveal inequalities, of various kinds, but it does not create or provide opportunity any more than a scale will cause me to lose weight.
LikeLike
This woman is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She knows exactly the reason kids should be taking the PARCC and SBAC. Yes, money is one reason, but the other reason is the data. Has anyone seen this creepy video of the CEO of Knewton describing what he is doing with all the points of FREE data from students? Usually, when one conducts an experiment or needs data, the subject signs a waiver for and is paid (most of the time) for the data obtained in an experiment. This company is receiving FREE data from innocent students from Pearson/SBAC and will be providing the results to anyone (organizations who want to hire people and want to find out how students behaved in public schools??). Listen to this man – he is a creepy, mad scientist with free access to our children’s data.
“We have more data about you than Google…We have literally more data about every student than any company has about anybody else about anything and it’s not even close…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr7Z7ysDluQ
LikeLike