Misusing Data in Regard to Public Schools
Data collection could be used positively and privately to lift students and teachers and create great public schools. But the fear is that data is currently misused in many ways. Data has also been used to misrepresent America’s schools. Parents have often been deceived, or data collection has been a waste of time because the results have not been used to benefit students. Sometimes data collection is scary.
Like when children in communities around the country came home talking about a survey they took in class. Parents, most of whom hadn’t heard their kids were taking a survey, learned some of the questions were too personal for their taste.
The Tripod, created by a Harvard professor and peddled by the MET project (Gates Foundation) asks children personal questions about their families, for example: how many adults and children live with them, how many books they have in their home/bedroom, and how many years of school the adult with the most education in their home has.
The Tripod also wants to get to know teachers. Here is a sample of the student questions for that:
Early Elementary (K-2) survey:
- In this class, we learn a lot almost every day.
- My classmates act the way my teacher wants them to.
Upper Elementary survey:
- My teacher wants me to explain my answers – why I think what I think.
- In this class, we learn to correct our mistakes.
Secondary survey:
- In this class, my teacher accepts nothing less than our full effort.Misusing Data in Regard to Public Schools: