PARCC Consortium Protects Pearson Using “Best Practices” Co-authored by Testing “Nonprofit”
On March 20, 2015, I published a post about the lately-produced Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) “Test Fairness and Security” statement.
Included in that statement is the following justification for monitoring social media “before, during and after” testing in the name of “test security”:
The PARCC states’ policy follows the best practices outlined by the Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], which recommends that there should be “procedures to monitor the internet and social websites before, during and after test administration for any evidence the items and/or answers have been shared” online. In order to maintain test security, each PARCC state contracted with its test vendor, Pearson, to search for any live PARCC test questions that are shared through public social media sites. This is standard practice for large-scale tests including ACT and SAT.
I previously noted that those CCSSO “best practices” are not available to the public to read. One must pay $30 in order to read them.
What I did not note (but will now) is that in its statement of “testing fairness,” the PARCC consortium does not disclose the co-author of those “CCSSO best practices”: The Association of Test Publishers (ATP):
Established in 1992, The Association of Test Publishers is a non-profit organization representing providers of tests and assessment tools and/or services related to assessment, selection, screening, certification, licensing, educational or clinical uses.ATP members are pledged to promote and advance the integrity of assessment services and products and their value to society; and dedicated to the highest level of professionalism and business ethics within the test publishing community. …ATP’s membership is composed of the leading publishers and assessment services providers in today’s testing industry.
According to its 2013 990 tax form, ATP is registered as a 501(c)6. Here is a general definition from the IRS:
IRC 501(c)(6) provides for exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players), which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. ….Reg. 1.501(c)(6)-l defines a business league as an association of personsPARCC Consortium Protects Pearson Using “Best Practices” Co-authored by Testing “Nonprofit” | deutsch29:
