Here is a list of the complaints filed by PARCC to take down statements on social media that PARCC claims are a violation of their copyright.

 

In some cases, they demanded the severing of links to posts they didn’t like. In others, they objected to descriptions of test passages. The passages are copyrighted, the descriptions are not.

 

There is a legal question about fair use: Under copyright law, it is legal to quote from copyright material if the quotation is short and relevant to public discussion. Whether this is applicable to standardized tests has not been determined.

 

From the point of view of what is reasonable, parents and teachers should know what their students have been asked by a testing corporation. How else can they learn from the tests if they don’t know their contents? The infamous “Pineapple” question of a few years back was revealed by leaks, not by disclosure. The item was so ludicrous that it became an embarrassment for Pearson. #pineapplegate became a media sensation, written up in every major newspaper, and parodied on the John Oliver show.

 

Without disclosure, Pineapple stories may proliferate, to the detriment of our students.