People Are Pissed at Pearson
Sir Michael Barber, Pearson's chief educational officer, actually became a British knight in 2005 for his role in leading marketplace "educational reform" in Great Britain. I suspect if he were good in math they would have made him a count. Barber apparently can't decide whether Pearson is leading a global Renaissance (rebirth) in education, a global revolution, or both. But in either case he believes that globalisation (he spells it like a Brit) and technology will direct the changes and we mere peasants have no choice but to go along. Sir Mike constantly writes and speaks about efficacy, the ability to produce a desired or intended result. But as you look at what is happening with Pearson and education, you see very little efficacy. Pearson's only intended result is to make more and more money. That is why so many people are pissed at Pearson and fighting back against Common Core and Pearson PARCC exams.
In Massachusetts, teachers are pissed at Pearson. Pearson wanted teachers proctoring PARCC exams to sign a "security agreement" that threatened their jobs if they failed to comply. The agreement included the warning, in the test manual and on PARCC letterhead, "Failure to abide by the terms of the agreement may result in an investigation that leads to sanctions including employment and licensure consequences, according to your state policies." The state's teachers' union demanded that the Commissioner of Education rescind the signing directive. In response, Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester issued a memorandum that teachers did not have to sign the PARCC Security Agreement in order to proctor the test.
In New York State, university professors are pissed at Pearson. The State Education Department (NYSED) sent out a survey to University Schools of Education "to obtain feedback from New York State educators regarding the importance of the assessment competencies to the job of an educator in the above field in New York State public schools." But the survey was not being conducted by the New York State Education Department; it was being done by Pearson. Participants were instructed, "If you have any questions, please e-mail us at es-cvsurvey@pearson.com or call our toll-free number: 1-800-877-4584." The questions on the survey were also ridiculous. Pearson wanted to know whether reviewers think teacher command of content knowledge and analytical tools in an academic field is of "no importance," "Little importance," "Moderate importance," "Great importance," or "Very great importance." Similar messages were sent to school principals. Basically, this was a pretend survey so that NYSED and Pearson could claim experts in the field were consulted in the preparation of teacher certification material.
In New Jersey, parents and students are pissed at Pearson. Pearson has contracted out the "test-security services" to a company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Caveon Web Patrol provides Pearson with "continual, consistent monitoring (of) the internet for illicit sharing of valuable intellectual property."
Pearson's agents monitored social media and Twitter after students took a Pearson PARCC exam. They notified state education officials of a possible "security breach." The state education officials then demanded that schools discipline the students. On its website, Pearson claims "when test questions or elements of a test are posted publicly to the Internet, including social media, we are obligated to alert PARCC People Are Pissed at Pearson | Alan Singer: