“Inside Philanthropy” has done investigative reporting and discovered one funder that supports the traditional public schools that enroll 95% of American school children (not counting, I assume, the 10% or so in private and religious schools).
Who might this funder be? Not the behemoth Gates Foundation. Not the billionaires Broad, Walton, Fisher, Dell, Adelson, Bloomberg, or Arnold. Not Ford, Carnegie, or Rockefeller.
You can’t guess. Neither could I. It’s a funder in the Bay Area working with real public schools in San Francisco, giving millions (pocket change compared to billionaires like Gates, Broad, and Walton) and committing their employees to help in the schools.
They are putting their money where the kids are, not into destructive schemes to disrupt and destroy our democratic institution of public schools.
Open the link to learn who has exercised common sense, good judgment, and performs good deeds. I name this level-headed, wise company to the honor roll of this blog.
If you know of any other foundations or corporations that are helping public schools, instead of trying to control them or privatize them, please let me know.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Best example I know is LeBron James Family Foundation and what LeBron and his foundation are doing in Akron.
Diane .
The fact is that Evils people want the best for they kids . Evils people won’t give and snake as bread to they kids .
Evils people don’t want lost respect but they did , still in the’r houses criminals faked be nice.
They teach to they kids the best but the’r not good enough to tell the truth. The are by 2 but not bipolar . 2 faces inside charters are fierce beats but after they left to go home they change use other mask .
The fact is criminals are not guilty until they prove it .
I’m 100 % sure that they are criminals proved but the’r lovely family are waiting.
It is wonderful to find a rose among so many thorns.
” But Salesforce also made $100,000 available to each middle school principal through an innovation fund to spend as they see fit. ”
I wonder if there will be any interest in what they did with it. I would be interested in reading that.
No one knows how to squeeze a dollar as hard as teachers. If it truly comes with no strings attached, it will be carefully maximized.It would be better if faculty had a say in how it were spent.
Now that this secret is out of the bag expect the other billionaires to start buying up stock in this company to leverage a hostile takeover, and end the philanthropy. Can’t have anyone doing the right thing that might make them look bad and reveal what monsters they are.
Your as cynical as I am, Lloyd. Love it!
Being a follower of brother Ambrose I concur with his take on “cynic”:
CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic’s eyes to improve his vision.
That is exactly what I thought too. Yes, fire is dangerous to play fool with, but fire is useful in BBQ and to boil water to defend e-coli.
In the same vein, this Saleforce Company’s effort and idea is commendable. The outcome, the string attached, and the wisdom in educational leadership will be unfolded sooner and later.
In short, we must watch out for FIRE = GREED from intentional deeds. Educators should be wise enough to seize all opportunities that are trivial or important to make out the best outcome or result in education for all. May
While it is logical that they would stress their area of expertise, STEM, I worry that their high school efforts are labeled as “college and career readiness.” I haven’t heard any definition of this term that isn’t referring to how students perform on standardized tests. I like that they are concentrating on literacy in the younger grades, but again I wonder what that means given that what used to be relatively benigh terms have been co-opted. That $100,000 with no string attached sounds great, but what the heck is an innovation fund? Can I fund a poetry slam, a Civil War reenactment, and/ or a debate team or do I have to design a maker space?
I, too, am hopeful that someone actually cares about public education, but it is very hard to accept that their agenda is not driving what happens in the schools.
Still focused on STEM with the intent of producing a favorable workforce, since the state of STEM education in this country is allegedly so abyssmal. Sigh.
Like!
True STEM classes in high school do not even exist because the T and the E are nowhere to be found. AP engineering? AP technological systems? Math courses generally stay far away fro application. And the closest we get is If you get a really knowledgeable and well rounded chemistry or physics teacher. Here in NYS my kids IB science and math and still didn’t even come close to the T or E. Now there may be some exceptions, but as a general rule, most claims of true “STEM Ed” ring very hollow.
I admit I too, while eagerly reading with open Hope, couldn’t get one eyebrow to lower over references to STEM, computer “science”, and innovation. There do seem strings attached and corporate bottom lines involved.
But at least they didn’t give the money to charter operators or political action committees! Let the big boys learn something at least from that.
I avoid purchasing any Walmart products, won’t buy Amway again, do not purchase Netflix. I boycott the Koch Industries product lines. I wish I could completely avoid supporting Microsoft or Apple and I do minimize purchasing their products.Would love to proactively support this company. What are their products? If they produce computers and software I am sure ready to be free of any Jobs or Gates developed products.
Cecelia – Here’s a basic search result that has some good explanations of what Salesforce does:
https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-does-salesforce-do
If you don’t want any Jobs or Gates developed products, you can use a Linux operating system. It would be tough to avoid MS office, though, as Word documents are the standard accepted format nowadays. You can get by okay using Libreoffice, but I have found it to be limited.
I’d thought I’d found a way out of buying Koch Industries’ Vanity Fair napkins when ShopRite came up w/a clone.. My eldest informs me the ShopRite clone is made in China… ?!
The Schott foundation and the National Opportunity to learn Campaign they support is a key supporter of equity and quality in education, and activism to get us there. MJ
I recently found out that Gerry and Lilo Leeds, who founded the Schott Foundation, also founded the “Alliance for Excellent Education” which is behind the tech-driven “Future Ready Schools” initiative.
It seems odd that the same people would be behind both initiatives, doesn’t it? http://schottfoundation.org/about/press-releases/remembering-gerry-leeds-1922-2014
Skeptic,
That is an odd combination, because the Schott Foundation for Public Education is one of the very few foundations that fights corporate reform. It funds the great investigative reporting of Jeff Bryant and created the Education Opportunity Network. I have met and participated in forums with its executive director, John Jackson. He is opposed to corporate reform.
Another insane charter story:
“In the second week of his senior year at Early Career Academy, Anthony Jones was told to find a new school immediately.
He had transferred the trimester before to the public charter school run by ITT Technical Institute, in the hopes that he could enter the Army after high school graduation with an associate degree already in hand.
But in August, Indiana charter officials moved quickly to shut down Early Career Academy within 30 days. They said the school, open for just one year on Indianapolis’ northwest side, was widely dysfunctional and operating in violation of state law.”
ITT, which is the for-profit college chain they just shut down, opened a charter school and no one in Indiana government knew about it? How was it “operating in violation of state law” for an entire year?
There will be a serious safety issue at one of these schools. They’re completely unregulated. It is just a matter of time.
And yet, Chiara, I think what you’re telling us is that Ohio appropriately shut down an ITT affiliate school. Totally sucks for the kid in question– but does it mean that Ohio is getting its act together?
My daughter’s elementary school gets serious support from local business people. I would bet that this is the case all,across small town America . The problem is that the school where I teach is not in a town, and there is no local support. All the extra support needed to innovated has to go through a county system, and most of the extras we have to raise ourselves.
We have a great student body and a good, stable community. But there are places where the community is shaky and the industries they need to survive are not there for work or extra help to those schools.
“My daughter’s elementary school gets serious support from local business people. I would bet that this is the case all,across small town America . The problem is that the school where I teach is not in a town, and there is no local support. All the extra support needed to innovated has to go through a county system, and most of the extras we have to raise ourselves..”
“I would bet this is the case across small town America.” What do you mean that your dghtr’s sch gets support from local biz people? In what way? I don’t see this happening in my NJ town. The only ‘support’ I see is that once a year our town businesses display artwork from various grades in their windows– that’s it. Believe me, local biz barely puts an oar in for local sports or whatever, we have to work very hard for that. Local biz here is barely hanging on w/lo profit-margins & we can barely get minimal donations for any community causes.
As best as I can see local biz (& residents) put up their RE taxes to support the local [excellent] school sys because they have to, because that’s what maintains their high market value– if it weren’t for that we’d get squat.
i feel for you teaching in a pubsch sys out in the boonies, where you have to depend on regional support which has been so compromised by this seemingly-endless economic decline…
B35,
Sorry to hear that your district does not have the local support that is so needed in a rural district.
In our rural poverty district many small businesses, including the fast food chains, Walmart, and many others all contribute with freebies, $$, coupons and other things to the district along with being vocal supporters of things like our excellent special needs kids program and the Special Olympics. People take pride in their district, and overall I think the district does a pretty good job (test scores notwithstanding-LOL) with the $7,900 per student we have to spend per child.
The downside is that the district at times crosses the church/state boundary to help religious organizations with their fundraising efforts. Needless to say I questioned that every year with the response being “Well, it’s for the most unfortunate of the community”. While I agree that those folks are doing good things for the community, the constitutional issues remain and should be honored. And the admins know that the quickest way to get let go would be to challenge the power of the pastors in this small xtian dominated town. Such is the life in a small rural community in the heartland of the country
Sherwood Foundation, Omaha NE
Sorry to be cynical, but this sounds too familiar. It’s great that Salesforce is giving money to SFUSD instead of funding charter schools, but it’s still the same old hype on STEM, STEM, and more STEM.
And how exactly are Salesforce employees helping as volunteers? And why does the focus on literacy end after elementary school? Are these volunteers actually contributing to what schools really need, or are they just patting themselves on the back? This article could use a lot more details.
If anyone were really truly interested in improving STEM, they would cut class sizes drastically (i.e. hire many more teachers), they would provide ample opportunities for hands-on experiments and learning across all fields of science and math, and they would support the full development of all cognitive abilities across all subjects. If people wanted “innovation,” then schools would be bursting with music, art, dance, and all kinds of other “electives.”
If computer science becomes a core subject in high schools, then the anti-intellectuals of the tech world can save even more money (and get more profit) by hiring kids straight out of high school instead of hiring international workers who are tied by their visas to obedience.
It looks to me like Salesforce has a lot to gain from their “philanthropy” in SFUSD – a straight school to tech pipeline that will keep their costs low and their profits high.
Yet from the article posted it looks like the main thrust, by providing volunteer STEM teachers, is to reduce class sizes?
This group actually looks very scary!!! and not a friend to the public schools I want for our children including mine!
They are all about gathering data, competency based education digital badges and stem.
This is written by the “chief digital evangelist” for Salesforce
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/a-solution-to-the-massive_b_5869218.html
In Oakland this “gift” from salesforce is being funneled through the Oakland public education fund. The Ed Fund was created by the Rodgers foundation and is heavily funded by Broad, Walton, and the other usual suspects. The Ed fund also supports charter schools. Many of us in Oakland do not view this as money in support of public education, but rather as more PR and propaganda from AstroTurf groups trying to privatize our schools. I am running for school board in Oakland. When I ran in 2012 I had nearly $200,000 spent against me and this time I am the only candidate who has never taken contributions from charters and the privatizers. Whether they know it or not salesforce has aligned themselves with the people who are destroying public education in Oakland. Oakland has the highest rate of charters (28%) in California.
Charter schools are not public schools
Mike Hutchinsonfor Oakland School BoardDistrict 5
I did find what I’ve read about salesforce concerning. I am not at all convinced they are truly a friend to public education, and children. I am also not sure that Inside philanthropy is a trustworthy news source. This link explains more. http://bustedpencils.com/2016/09/deceptions-exposed/
wondering and others who read the attack on me at busted pencils, a website run by Tim Slekar. I have often posted articles by Tim and by others who write on his website.
I wrote the following letter to Tim:
I was stunned to read Michael Pena’s nasty attack on me on your blog.
I was sitting in the park yesterday when I read the Inside Philanthropy article, and immediately posted it because I was astonished to discover a company that gives money to the local public schools.
I knew nothing about the company other than what was in the article.
I had no idea that my son’s company had invested in it.
If I had known, I would not have posted the article.
In any event, he won’t make money as a result of my posting the reference.
This was a very low blow.
“If I had known, I would not have posted the article.”
Thank you, Diane for stating that as I’ve been reading what I consider some quite obnoxious stuff written about you posting this one. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond but now you’ve given me something to work with. Thanks! Off to FB to do so.
Duane,
I try to be an ethical person. I don’t accept any money or advertising for the blog, and I work very hard at it.
I will never understand why people who are critics of the same things that I am have the desire to disparage me and find some nefarious motive (I am not trying to enrich my son, he is doing quite well on his own with no help from me).
Why don’t they go after our common enemies, the people who want to destroy public schools, unions, and the teaching profession?
On other forums people have asked why I defend you, as for some reason they see you as a “sell out”. I don’t understand either why they feel that way. Do you and I agree on everything? Hardly! But I also understand that what you do is a hell of a lot of work and effort, and I applaud you for it! Keep up the good work! Y, mil gracias.
Duane,
Who did I sell out to?
Exactly!
Duane recognizes the value in engaging with people who see the same problems but who don’t necessarily share action plans. People who insist that you/one act exactly the way they think you/ one should can be as pernicious as those who hold a position that is diametrically opposed. I read Anthony Cody’s response to the ugly and unnecessary attacks on your integrity: http://www.livingindialogue.com/allies-enemies-cannot/. I know it can be hard to ignore an attack from those who supposedly share your concerns. Just know that there are more of us who appreciate the chance you give us to discuss, debate and even disagree with each other in a collegial and non-combative environment. I can’t thank you enough.
From Anthony’s post:
“Most of us are not doing this for any sort of personal glory, much less to make profits for our children’s investments.”
Exactly, Anthony, well written post and thanks to 2o2t for pointing us to it!
Diane, you write,
“I have often posted articles by Tim and by others who write on his website.
I wrote the following letter to Tim:”
Writing to Tim to complain that he has published a guest blog critical of you is a surprising reaction from somebody with your current level of press access and control. Should he be concerned that you might stop publishing his work, and others whose writing he circulates?
Mary,
Who else should I write? I don’t know the author of the piece. Should I write to the Internet?
I posted a piece that I saw yesterday morning. The point of my piece was that it is “news” when some foundation or company is supporting public schools instead of charter schools.
I had no ulterior motive. I don’t know the company. I didn’t check its financials. My only source was the article in “Inside Philanthropy.”
By the way, I don’t control the press. I control only my own blog.
Mary, you wrote “. . . with your current level of press access and control.”
While no doubt Diane has a level of press access that most of us don’t have, she does extend the opportunity here for us to use that national exposure to state our thoughts and concerns. I know I have personally benefited in my writing from posting here with the ensuing discussions and knowing it is getting out to so many who otherwise would not have the opportunity to read something from an old fart retired high school Spanish teacher. I appreciate that exposure.
“Control”. How can Diane conceivably have control of the press?
Duane, thank you. I try to open the blog to many voices, especially teachers and parents who would otherwise not find an audience.
I have not allowed people to use my blog to insult me. As I have often said, the blog is my living room. No one has to come here but when they do, I expect them to be polite to their host. If they don’t like me, there are other sites they can go to.
To wondering:
Are you Michael Peña? Your written style has shown that you are very naive. Have you gone through this thread?
Dr. Ravitch intentionally motivates people to support Public Education without a string attached and without enforce INVALID testing scheme and destabilize teaching profession.
We, readers and followers, are skeptical all business owners who did not show their interest in creativity from Liberal Arts subjects.
However, we, readers, would appreciate any support for Public Education from all walk of life sponsorship, including your praise, NOT smear tactic. Back2basic
I am not Michael Pena, nor do I know him. I do not entirely follow all of your comments. Others here have posted some concerns about Salesforce’s philanthropy as well; I hope their perspective is valued.
wondering, please read my note to Tim Slekar.
Salesforce is an active participant in the push for digital badging. See this 2014 article from their Chief Digital Evangelist in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/a-solution-to-the-massive_b_5869218.html
People need to realize that ed reform 2.0 is a different beast from the version we have been groomed to fight. Get up to speed on “learning eco-systems” “online portfolios” and “workforce skills badging.” Once you do, you’ll see clearly how Salesforce’s future prospects directly relate to their implementation.
Skeptic,
I don’t think we should knock anyone who gives money to public schools. I am a digital skeptic too, but if children are not being harmed, I think we should thank those who put money into public schools, not charters.
Are you aware of the new push for “anytime, any place” learning eco-systems? That is the end game. The reformers need to establish the legitimacy of badging in order to convince the public that they can do away with bricks and mortar public schools in favor of cyber education and community-based learning.
That is what the push for data-driven, standards-based education is really about. They need to deconstruct real, authentic learning and make it more like a game of collecting bits and pieces of “information.” Kind of like a massive societal Pokemon Go game.
Of course as people interact with all of these learning platforms, they throw off lots of data-skills data, behavioral data, bio-metric data, mental health data, than can be aggregated to manage and control people.
Salesforce is all about aggregation of data to sell people things.
I do not think anybody should be thanking Salesforce for furthering their business agenda on the backs of public school students.
Skeptic,
I read an article in “Inside Philanthropy” and noted the irony that it is considered newsworthy that someone other than parents is supporting public schools. I was not endorsing the business, which I did not know, or its ultimate goals, which I also do not know.
I just found it interesting that a publication about philanthropy obliquely noticed that the major foundations no longer support public schools.
“. . . “anytime, any place” learning eco-systems”
Have no problem with the thought expressed in the first four words as that should be the foundation for living in general. If ya ain’t learning you are dying.
It’s the last two words that point to the problem as you have explained. Thanks!
I am not sure I agree that we shouldn’t “knock anyone who gives money to public schools.” Here are some examples.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sf-school-board-concerned-classroom-commercialization/ This one is directly relevant to Salesforce.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2013/08/01/school-report-cards-not-in-our-name
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-county-technology-20160416-story.html
The NEPC’s report on “Learning to be Watched” is excellent – and comes from their 18th Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends [which] explores the use of digital marketing in schools. Most relevant to this point, it also addresses the degree that donations from industry to public schools may be flawed.
Well, you need to get up to speed on digital badging and learning eco-systems ASAP then. Maybe set up a google alert for “personalized learning?” That would give you a lot of material to start with. Also Knowledgeworks is one of the main promoters of this new way of looking at “education.”
Why is Diane refusing to answer questions about digital badging? She addresses everyone else but won’t answer this question. I don’t get it.
Kevin, I don’t understand your hayloft. I have written many posts opposing data mining, data tracking, Gates-funded galvanic skin monitors. I oppose any digital monitoring, tracking, badging or spying on children.
Why the paranoia?
I think this is the newest fad of competency based education. You have certainly covered that topic as it applies to K-12 education. If tech companies want to give their employees badges for passing the latest (online?) course in widgets, fine. It is nothing new just dressed up in different clothes.
2old2teach,
I have written so often about the danger of corporate abuse of technology that some people called me technophobic (I am not). So it is strange to discover that I now get criticized for not attacking competency based education, which I oppose. To be clear, I oppose continuous embedded online assessment, data mining and every other use of technology that treats children as digitized widgets.
I really appreciate this conversation. This is not a theoretical conversation for us – the pieces have been put in place with incredible rapidity in Baltimore County Public Schools. I am also relatively new to all of this but have spent the last two years watch our public school district being turned into fertile ground for exactly what Kevin writes about.
My elementary and middle school children spend a lot of time on computers during the school day and for homework, and much of that time is already taking online assessments – such as ones through Pearson – and they do count for grades. So no opting out!!!! (well, in Maryland, its refusal, but it is still next to impossible). We still have PARCC, but I believe Maryland will be scrambling to be one of the first in line for alternative assessment pilots.
When I read about the ESSA pilots, and spend a few minutes listening to anything coming out of iNACOL’s or Van der Ark’s shop, it is very clear that for profit ed tech companies are salivating over the opportunity they see and that they do view this as a way of addressing the very valid criticisms championed so well by the Opt-Out movement.
I am trying to see both sides of the controversy, and I’m sure I’m not always getting it right, but I do hope that all can join forces to fight online competency based education now. I may be naive, and may merit criticism for saying this, but it seems to me that many of the activists concerned about online competency-based education have not felt they have been able to convince the larger opt-out movement (I am not referring to any particular organization – I can’t keep them all straight either) of the dangers. I was really happy to see this this morning.
http://denishajones.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-opt-out-movement-continues-to-grow.html
Baltimore parent,
The part of the opt-out movement I know best is NY, where it is called NYSAPE. They are fighting all of the abuses of children, including online testing. One of their board members is my friend Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters and Student Privacy Matters. Leonie is also on the board of the Network for Public Education, and I am on her board. Student privacy and data mining are very big issues for all of us. Leonie is one of the nation’s leading experts on student privacy.
I love those groups and look frequently to their incredible resources, and appreciate your involvement with them.
I am not claiming that Raine Group’s investments impact your actions or views or vice versa. But you had stated that you do not know anything about digital badging. A number of us on this thread have emphasized that it has a great deal to do with the post-ESSA ed reform landscape. I’m sure that Raine Group has analysts who conduct detailed research before making their investments. Perhaps you could inquire into their thinking on why they felt Parchment was a sound investment at this time?
Or maybe you could reach out to Dr. Levine, who gave that Keynote speech?
Or maybe you could look into the MacArthur Foundation’s work on it and their partnerships with Mozilla and how it relates to efforts underway by the Clinton Global Initiative? There are many sources of information. You have some close to hand, but there are many others.
As a leading voice in education activism, I think you owe it to those who follow your blog to do the leg work on this. Simply stating that you do not know and are perhaps disinclined to get “in the know” is going to be very discouraging for a lot of people who see how this new version of ed reform 2.0 taking hold in their communities. It would make me feel much better to hear some indication from you that working to better understand how online credentialing / badging fits into modular digital curriculum and how online educational gaming platforms mesh with the push for SEL data gathering is a priority for you and something that you are willing to personally invest some time into learning more about.
I will learn about digital badges.
Or, maybe one and all could keep their nose (and mouth) out of someone’s personal life – especially one who has no voice in this forum.
How the dr.’s son invests/spends his money has no impact on the dr.’s opinions. No investment advise is given. No one is encouraged to buy/sell in any of the companies the son is involved with.
“As a leading voice in education activism, I think you owe it to those who follow your blog to do the leg work on this.”
Excuse me?! DIANE DOESN’T OWE YOU SQUAT! In case you haven’t noticed, Diane relies on a wide circle of knowledgeable professionals for input. If you are one of those people, feel free to contribute your expertise. Or, if you have access to material that will add to the discussion, provide links. I’m not sure where this assumption that Diane should provide a clearinghouse on everything education came from. I only read what is posted on this blog and I can’t keep up with even that. I’m sorry, Diane, for presuming to speak for you, but lately people seem to be getting rather presumptuous about how you should do your “job.”
Thank you for your willingness to investigate online credential / badging initiatives as they relate to public education and workforce development.
Although not specifically called “badges,” I seem to remember you featured information about edu-blocks in the recent past. That, is essentially the kind of blockchain / badging systems we are talking about. The “Learning is Earning” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zssd6eBVfwc
“When I finish an audio book, I get an edu-block. Anyone can grant and edu-block….” Scary.
Online alternative credentialing is key to creating eco-systems of “informal learning” outside of the sphere of physical school buildings and certified teachers (human teachers).
Many of us feel that the intention of ed reform 2.0 is to use these credentialing systems (via credit-bearing Extended Learning Opportunities or ELOs) to make in-school instruction obsolete or at least marginalize it.
Many cyber education companies are lobbying for their “virtual school” classes to be qualify for credit-bearing ELO status. Look at the investments being made by foundations into out of school time learning at the expense of offering a rich curriculum during the school day. It is a troubling trend.
And what does it mean for us if we start to move into a type of education “eco-system” that is largely controlled by cyber education companies and non-profits who operate at the behest of neoliberal foundations?
I am very interested in hearing your thoughts once you’ve had the chance to do some research into this.
Kevin,
I was driving from Brooklyn to Southold. Traffic was heavy. It took four hours. That’s why my response to you was delayed. Other than not commenting on digital badges, which I never heard of, what else have I not written about?
Many of us are finding out about big things going on with Competency-Based Education tied to digital learning and personalized learning. Some of us have been writing about this since last year. A lot of us got involved when ESSA came out. We have tracked companies and documents and found more than sufficient evidence that leads to the death of brick and mortar schools and teachers being eliminated. I think it concerns many that you aren’t aware of this. People look to you as the go-to person on this kind of thing. When there is silence on the issue, it is concerning. The fact you haven’t heard about digital badges is even more concerning. To some, and I will throw my name out there, it feels like you pick and choose what to write about. That is certainly your right. I don’t know how much you read other blogs or engage on social media. There isn’t enough time in the day to read everything. Our fear is that Hillary will be a HUGE supporter of all this when it goes down. It is already taking place in pilot districts across the country. This is the next battle. ESSA is complex but embedded in it are easter eggs for the corporations that are going to continue to data-mine students. The career pathway programs being set up by the Feds is also not a safe thing. When you combine all this, it is a frightening future. I think it caught many by surprise with your post about that foundation you wrote about yesterday. The fact you didn’t name them, but when people looked into them a relation of yours appeared. It was a culmination of events that have been building up. I am begging you… you have a very wide audience… please start to write about this stuff.
Kevin, send me articles and I will post them. I am 78 years old. I spend 6-8 hours daily reading and blogging. Most of what I post comes from things that people call to my attention, either on my email, the comments on the blog, or Twitter. There have been nearly 400,000 comments on the blog. I have read all of them.
If you want me to write about digital badges, write a piece and send it to me.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Kevin,
If you disagree with something I post or think I should post something different, write me. You don’t have to attack me to get my attention.
My son invests in many businesses, his specialty is sports and media. If you want to buy or sell a sports team, he’s the go-to guy. He is not a hedge fund manager. He doesn’t play the stock market. He invests in new companies that he believes in them. I don’t know what he invests in but I have his promise that he will not invest in anything that promotes or supports or builds charter schools. He doesn’t tell me what his companies he invests in, and frankly I don’t give a damn. A mention in my blog does not help or hurt a company. If it did, Pearson would be bankrupt.
One more thing: Ari Emanuel, Rahm’s brother, has a partner of my son. This has zero influence on me. I have never said a good word about Rahm. When I met him in 2010, he was rude, condescending, and offensive. I have never forgotten or forgiven. Karen Lewis is one of my heroes, and I have condemned Rahm’s destruction of public schools in Zchicago.
Kevin, I’ve never heard of digital badges. And no, no one “should have heard about it”. For every individual, life is relative. We will know about something when we hear about it on our own timeline — not yours If you have something new to share no matter how old it is, then share it.
Diane, I totally agree with you on the investments in charters being a very bad thing. But there are inherent dangers when firms like Raine invest in companies that will immensely benefit Pearsson and other ed tech companies. The charters are just one part of the whole equation. When I talk about digital badges, these are badges students will “earn” in the future based on curriculum provided by ed tech companies. It won’t be about what happens in the classroom because they will be digital classrooms where the teachers I fight for every day will become nothing more than a glorified moderator to ed tech developed and created by companies.
In 2011, the Family Educational Privacy Rights Act changed. It allowed student data to go out to education “research” companies. I firmly believe, as do many others, this was intentional. It allows student identifiable information to go from schools to state DOEs to outside companies. It is a complete invasion of private information that should stay in public schools. Students shouldn’t be judged like this. They are creative and wonderful children, not guinea pigs for companies to make a profit off of.
We need to get FERPA restored to what it was before 2011. That will stop this and we need you to help us get people to understand what is going on out there. Our next President (God help us all if it is Trump) needs to do this. The plans are in place and time is running out for today’s kids as well as future generations of students.
Kevin,
I strongly support the revision of FERPA to protect student privacy. Google my name and FERPA, and you will see that I wrote several posts condemning Duncan for weakening FERPA in 2011.
I am on the board of Leonie Haimson’s Class Size Matters, which sponsors Student PrivacyMatters. Leonie and Rachel Strickland led the fight to kill Gates’ inBloom. It brought the issue of data mining to public attention. I supported their campaign to protect students. You criticize for not doing things that I did.
I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t get involved in all of this “destruction of public education” until about 2 1/2 years ago when a charter denied my son an IEP and I started digging to find out what was going on in education. A lot of what you are talking about is “before my time” so to speak. I can’t change anything that happened before. And those things you did, they are huge! I apologize for not knowing your role in those events. I have a lot of respect for Leonie and Rachel and I engage with them regarding these matters quite a bit through an email group I belong to.
I’m not criticizing you for President Obama weakening FERPA, but with your legitimacy, saying how important it would be to undo that 2011 change to FERPA would add great weight to the fight for student data privacy. Our next president could repeal the 2011 change. Do you think Hillary would do that? I don’t know if you are in a position to ask her, but if so, is that something you could do?
I promise you I will fight to restore FERPA, to protect your children, my grandchildren, and every child.
My son has read my books. He stays far away from the education sector. He invested in VICE, a youth-oriented media company that produces cutting-edge documentaries and has its own cable station, in connection with HBO. One of the companies he backs created South Park and The Book of Mormon. He introduced the NBA to China. He invested in the Yankees cable station. He financed a guy who was creating a free and independent news outlet in Afghanistan. I am very proud of him. He is a good man.
Well if he got the Yankees cable station into being, he is an awesome person!
Kevin,
I hope you will reconsider your dismissal of the power of opt out.
20% of kids opted out in 2015, 21% in 2016. Lots of new kids added because the 8th grade moved on.
Because of the opt out, Cuomo shut up about his plans to break public schools.
The State Board of Regents has new progressive leadership.
Opt out is powerful.
The legislature is back pedaling.
Suppose they gave a test and no one took it. No data. No data mining.
I don’t dismiss the power of opt out at all. But opt out as we know it has to evolve. I spent a considerable amount of time in the first half of 2015 fighting for a bill in Delaware that passed overwhelmingly in our House and Senate. It codified a parent’s right to opt out. And also would have made sure our DOE and schools didn’t punish students. Our Governor vetoed the bill.
In the competency-based education arena, tests like SBAC and PARCC will change. The once a year test will be gone but will instead morph into mini-tests. Delivered online, but they will happen weekly, or bi-weekly, or at the end of each unit. Delaware put out an RFP for our new Social Studies state assessment that our Secretary of Education said will be delivered throughout the year. Make no mistake, these will be the same type of standardized tests parents are opting out of. But if they replace teacher created tests and student’s grades depend on them, it will make opt out very difficult.
Tom Vander Ark, who used to be an executive for Gates, and is now with Global Futures, told everyone about this here: http://gettingsmart.com/2015/05/the-end-of-the-big-test-moving-to-competency-based-policy/
This is happening now, in real-time, and it is only a matter of time before the “pilots” go national. I don’t want that for my son or any other child in this country. If it stayed the same as it is now, I would still be fighting the same fight. But ESSA will deliver this into our schools. Once that happens, what can a parent do? This is why I am so passionate about this stuff. Time is running out. ESSA calls for more pilot states for many things. My philosophy has always been the same, if it isn’t good for kids, I can’t support it. But when I see teachers fully embracing ed tech like it is the best thing since sliced bread, it is very worrisome.
Kevin,
I totally agree with you about the dangers of online assessment. I have written many posts criticizing online assessment. Among other things, they will be data mining students nonstop.
The same parents who fought for opt out will fight against continuous online assessment. Saying opt out is dead demoralizes them and takes away the most powerful tool that parents have: the right to say no.
The opt movement in New York has achieved incredible results. They will keep fighting against online assessment but they need support not negativity.
Diane,
You keep talking about New York. I live in Delaware. While I think New York tends to set the pace for the rest of the country, followed closely by NJ, opt out is not as big in my state. The title of my article was “Opt Out As We Know It Is Dead”. Meaning it has become so much more than just opting out of assessments. Opt out is very powerful, but somewhere along the way the reformers learned how to take advantage of it. As opt out grew, so did the need for “reduced assessments”. What I found hysterical was that the state assessment, at least in my state, was not allowed to be on the table for change or elimination. It was talked about in meetings, but nothing came of it in the final report. I don’t underestimate the power of the parent voice at all. But I see so many parents who don’t seem to have a problem with the technology in classrooms. The biggest complaint from the opt out crowd in the beginning was too much assessment. And then certain civil rights groups (who get tons of funding from Gates et al) started speaking out against opt out. All I’m saying is parents need to use the tool they have and make it louder, much louder. To be very clear, I am NOT against opt out. We haven’t come this far to throw it all away now.
It was my idea to have multiple bloggers write about this topic yesterday. It was meant to draw attention to other issues going on besides just the state assessment. It is creating dialogue and conversation in the past 24 hours that many didn’t even know about. While I don’t think a “shock and awe” approach is always appropriate, in this situation I felt it was needed. Every single state will be submitting their ESSA plans in the next six months. A crucial part of that process will be what they hear from parents. By alerting parents to the dangers embedded in ESSA, it is my hope they will really look into what the entire law means, and not just the parts that the State DOEs and the reformers are choosing to show the public. The law was meant to give states more education power than the feds. But far too many states are aligned with what the feds have been doing. It will only solidify the power the reformers have. Sometimes you need to wake the sleeping giant.
To illustrate what is going on with ed tech, I just got this email from Ed Week about ed tech in early education and a webinar next week. The assumption is already made that ed tech is a part of these environments. It is already there. They are trying to mitigate that by showing “hands on” approaches as well. I see more and more of this happening every day. Early education should be about many things, but I don’t think having ed tech for toddlers and pre-K students is the right way to go. These are developing brains getting flooded with screen time and things they may not neurologically be ready for. https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&partnerref=EBLAST&eventid=1259806&sessionid=1&key=9085B297F738347A730291285AAABD24®Tag=&sourcepage=register
I agree with you, Kevin. A competency based program cost me my special ed position five years ago. The program had a lot of good things about it, especially during the time I was encouraged to use my own professional knowledge to mold it to the students. I was blind-sided in the spring of my final year by a new regime that wanted it taught as a scripted program in a rigid formulaic fashion. They used data from my students, many of whom did not qualify by the program protocol, to claim they did not make adequate progress. It even took them until almost November to get the computer portion of the program up and running, and it was January, second semester, before they actually got my class roster set. (In first semester three classes of 15 students, I had 400 extra students. They upended my classes again in the spring when they moved some students, who technically did not qualify to another class. So after essentially six weeks of data that came anywhere even close to the protocol, I was told I was not recommended for rehire. The growth the students did make was impressive if you looked at the time they actually had.
“My son invests in many businesses, his specialty is sports and media.”
Raine Group is also invested in Parchment, an online credentialing company. From your comments, it sounds like you talk about his business investments as they relate to education. I think it’s important that you follow up with him about that particular investment as it relates to digital badges and the changes that are coming under the new ESSA roll out. http://venturebeat.com/2014/03/19/credential-verification-startup-parchment-raises-10m/
Skeptic,
I don’t discuss my son’s investments with him. He told me he does not invest in companies related to charter schools. The company you mention stores graduation diplomas and makes them available. From what I read in the article you sent, if a person tells a hospital he has an MD, they can check if it is true. There are frauds, and I assume this service is a verification to prevent fraud. I saw nothing that suggests this company awards credentials. In any event, he doesn’t ask me what he should invest in, and I don’t tell him what to do.
Actually, it is much more complicated than that. Arthur Levine, formerly President of Teachers College at Columbia University-now working with MIT and the Woodrow Wilson Institute on a Competency-Based Education Teacher Training Program, gave the keynote at the annual Parchment conference on “innovating academic credentials.” It’s a pretty fascinating talk, and in it Levine poses a pretty radical idea of calling for a “DSM for Achievement.” https://medium.com/learning-machine-blog/a-dsm-for-achievement-9e52fd881428#.1byckgdps
The push for standards-aligned workforce development by reformers goes from “cradle to gray” as they say. Through blockchain and other means (Kevin can talk about recent developments in Blockchain/Bitcoin legislation in DE), they are looking to break education down into these bits and pieces. People will accumulate them through “lifelong learning” as they call it. Which is a pretty unpleasant take on the concept. The goal is that there will be a seamless experience, no preschool, elementary school, middle, school, college, post-secondary, workforce certification—just badges and micro credentials that define you as a digital citizen.
“My son has read my books. He stays far away from the education sector.”
I think once you look into what Parchment is really about, you will see how it is tied into the education sector. These are really new markets, once that the average person is not necessarily family with unless they enjoy delving into topics like block chain and learning eco-systems.
Skeptic,
I have no control over investment decisions by my son’s company. I don’t think he is a Pearson stockholder. Actually, I bought 10 shares so that my vote could be cast against present management. But you are wasting your time haranguing about Raine investments. I don’t know about them. My son doesn’t support me. His investments don’t affect my views.
Diane, so does the heir to the Nutrogena fortune. Please check out Cotsen: The Art of Teaching. I was a fellow. The program has improved our teaching and the learning of our students here in Southern California. I’m in LBUSD.
I spoke to the Cotsen fellows a few years ago. Wonderful group!
Seriously…? Um, hello. Teachers, students, out here dealing with reform bs everyday. And y’all are going to act like petty squabbling children? Reminder, this ain’t about you. If y’all are the friends of public education we don’t need enemies. Not everything is a conspiracy theory. I am really starting to think that no one on any side of education policy debates actually cares about teachers and students. Y’all are questioning someone with a track record like Diane because of something like this?
Lynn: I hear you ; I liked Anthony Cody’s article so much I copied out a bit and put it on Robert Reich’s blog…. same issues Help stop Trump in your community by joining a door-knocking canvass on this weekend.
I was campaigning for Bernie Sanders and then after the convention I still will vote blue up and down the ballot; someone (a lady ) would write to me on FB and say “how can you support Sherrod Brown? he supports HRC not Bernie.” it was as if I could not conform to her rigid idea of a “purist”… I have gotten into that disagreement with people who now say they will vote for Jill Stein or Trump just out of revenge (to get back at the rest of us???? who will they be punishing?)
note to Kevin: one of the best persons I know who is up to date on the technology is Cheri Kiesecker and she writes from Colorado daily… excellent information on the things happening in her state and she has an excellent grasp of technology in the schools and student’s privacy rights. (you can find her on FB; I have mentioned her work here on Diane’s blog before)….
Ms. Ravitch and Kevin Ohlandt,
I appreciate this dialogue but want to clarify a statement. Competency Based Ed (CBE) is not just assessments every few weeks (which is bad enough and already proving IMPOSSIBLE to opt out of– I will expand on that later.)
CBE is embedded- PART OF- online every day curriculum. Everything a student does is collected as proof of their “competency”.
The point: You cannot opt out of everyday curriculum.
Also, CBE is related to “credentials” also called data badges. The online part of CBE is important. EVERY key-stroke, EVERY online interaction is collected and CONNECTED.
Please, please, please read this small paragraph that explains this. From The LearnSphere project funded by the National Science Foundation and handled by Carnegie Mellon, http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/october/october2_learnsphere.html explains this plan:
“There are several important initiatives designed to address these data access challenges, for individual researchers as well as institutions and states. LearnSphere, a cross-institutional community infrastructure project, aims to develop a large-scale open repository of rich education data by integrating data from its four components.[17] For instance, DataShop stores data from student interactions with online course materials, intelligent tutoring systems, virtual labs, and simulations, and DataStage stores data derived from online courses offered by Stanford University.
====>Click-stream data stored in ****these repositories include thousands and even MILLIONS of data points per student, **** much of which is made publicly available to registered users who meet data privacy assurance criteria. On the other hand, MOOCdb and DiscourseDB, also components of LearnSphere, offer platforms for the extraction and representation of student MOOC data and textual data, respectively, surrounding student online learning interactions that are otherwise difficult to access or are highly fragmented. By integrating data held or processed through these different components, ====>LearnSphere will create a large set of interconnected data that reflects most of a student’s experience in online learning.” http://www.sr.ithaka.org/publications/student-data-in-the-digital-era/
The only 2 options I see:
1. paper-pencil and textbook to avoid this key-stroke data collection
2. Beg, plead, Demand, that the next President repeal the 2011 change that weakened FERPA. (Repealing this 2011 change would be a huge start and would prohibit pii sharing/ transfer across states without parent approval…and could be repealed with one signature by the President. Will ANY Presidential candidate commit to this?)
Cheri
Thanks, Cheri,
The state commissioner in NY wants to introduce this. I will fight it.
Cheri,
I hope you will write a post and send to me at dr19@nyu.edu
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE happening today… Parent can’t opt out of CBE.
There is a mom whose TWO children, both with IEPs, were forced to take online CBE type assessments in NY this week…despite her written refusal (and request for paper pencil option) and despite her children saying NO when the test was administered.
This NY mom has been very publicly asking for help, advice about what to do. SO FAR, all opt-out advocates that have responded, have said, in a nutshell, nothing you can do, you cannot opt out of these CBE assessments …just keep making it public.
Maybe you can help. What can she do?
Here is her story, shared with her permission. She is willing to use her name, go to the media because, as she said, “You can definitely pass my contact information. I want to handle this as soon as possible and staying anonymous isn’t showing my children that I’m brave and we can stand up to bullies.”
There is a mom asking for help and she was sent to me. She gave me permission to share her story. This is what I know in a nutshell. She is in NY, this is her school district. http://www.phoenixcsd.org/
She did everything we suggest you do if you are concerned about data privacy and screen time.
1. She filled out opt out letter. She also refused all online assessments. She opted out of school directory.
2. She asked for paper pencil version and textbook version whenever available.
3. She held a meeting with SpEd, counselor before school started, they said (verbal) they would HONOR her refusals this year.
This week, her middle school child (with IEP) was forced to take online math assessment, SMI, http://tinyurl.com/jsf5nzv. When the student said but, “My mom told me not to take this test” ….The teacher reportedly told the child, sit down take the test “I don’t have time for this crap.” When the mom contacted the school about this (via phone conversation), the counselor told the mom that her child didn’t have the right to refuse the test and if she didn’t like it, she should homeschool.
Next day, her high school child (with IEP) was made to take an online reading assessment http://www.scilearn.com/ . When the student said I am not allowed to take the online assessment, asked to call mom for permission–the student was denied option of contacting parent, and forced to take the online test.
Regardless of opt out law, this parent’s requests were ignored, her children’s rights ignored.
Is this what it comes down to? If you send your child to public school, you MUST submit to online assessments and CBE? Is homeschooling her only alternative, as the school apparently suggests?
Warren Buffet is another good apple. His wife, in particularly, strongly supports early childhood education.
The Buffett family has a social conscience. I regret that Warren Buffet turned over about $35 billion to Gates. Buffett is far wiser, and his children went to public schools and support public schools.
Bill Gates is a con-man, and Buffett must have been conned out of that $35 billion. I wonder if Buffett can take it back.
And this is why people from Holland can speak to the subject of education:
All 13 Dutch research-led universities are included in the Times Higher Education ranking of the top 200 universities in the world for the first time. Like last year, eight Dutch institutions make the top 100. Delft University of Technology is highest ranked, in 59th place. Amsterdam is second in 63rd place and Wageningen third in 65th. Tilburg University, the only one missing in last year’s list, debuts at 198. The list is compiled on the basis of teaching, research, international outlook and reputation. Oxford University is this year’s ranking leader. ‘This is a great performance and one we are very proud of,’ Karl Dittrich, chairman of the university umbrella group VSNU said in a statement. The Netherlands is also once again the fourth most-represented country in the top 200 of the rankings