Millennial Debate Standardized Testing Debate
Standardized Tests Bad -- Common Core Testing Bad
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- Storage of scores makes it possible for corporate, non-academic interests to access them
Standardized Tests Bad -- Common Core Testing BadSurveillanceCommon core test data kept forever as part of an extensive surveillance systemCook 13 — Joshua Cook, MBA, reporter, writer for BenSwann.com whose work has appeared on DrudgeReport, InfoWars, Breitbart.com, Daily Caller and FreedomOutpost.com, 2013 (“Common Core is the Most Dangerous Domestic Spying Program,” Freedom Outpost, September 2nd, Available Online at http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/09/common-core-dangerous-domestic-spying-program/#eBdFDCwK8D3U5h94.99, Accessed 06-22-2015) Earlier this year, revelations about the Department of Justice spying on the Associated Press were quickly followed by revelations that the NSA was collecting phone data on all Verizon, and then all American cell phone users. Edward Snowden's whistleblowing drew yet more attention to the issue, and domestic surveillance programs have remained a top issue in people's minds ever since. While Americans focus on institutions like the CIA and NSA, though, programs are being implemented which would lead to a much more institutional way of tracking citizens. Obamacare is one of these, but Common Core Standards – the federal educational program – is the most eyebrow-raising. Bill Gates was one of the leaders of Common Core, putting his personal money into its development, implementation and promotion, so it's unsurprising that much of this data mining will occur via Microsoft's Cloud system. Even the Department of Education, though, admits that privacy is a concern, and that some of the data gathered may be "of a sensitive nature." The information collected will be more than sensitive; much of it will also be completely unrelated to education. Data collected will not only include grades, test scores, name, date of birth and social security number, it will also include parents' political affiliations, individual or familial mental or psychological problems, beliefs, religious practices and income. In addition, all activities, as well as those deemed demeaning, self-incriminating or anti-social, will be stored in students' school records. In other words, not only will permanently stored data reflect criminal activities, it will also reflect bullying or anything perceived as abnormal. The mere fact that the White House notes the program can be used to "automatically demonstrate proof of competency in a work setting" means such data is intended to affect students' futures. Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that data collection will also include critical appraisals of individuals with whom students have close family relationships. The Common Core program has been heavily scrutinized recently for the fact that its curriculum teaches young children to use emotionally charged language to manipulate others and teaches students how to become community organizers and experts of the U.N.'s agenda 21. Combined with this form of data collection, it's easy to envision truly disturbing untruths and distortions making their way into the permanent record. Like Common Core, states were bribed with grant money from the federal government to implement data mining, and 47 states have now implemented some form of data mining from the educational system. Only 9 have implemented the full Common Core data mining program. Though there are restrictions which make storing data difficult on the federal level, states can easily store the data and allow the federal government to access it at its own discretion. The government won't be the only organization with access to the information. School administrators have full control over student files, and they can choose who to share information with. Theoretically, the information could be sold, perhaps withholding identifying information. In addition, schools can share records with any "school official" without parental consent. The term "school official," however, includes private companies, which have contracts with the school. NSA data mining is troubling because it could lead to intensely negative outcomes, because it opens up new avenues for control and because it is fundamentally wrong. Common Core data mining and tracking students with GPS devices is far, far scarier. It gives the government the ability to completely control the futures of every student of public education, and that will soon extend to private and home schools. It provides a way to intimidate students – who already have a difficult time socially – into conforming to norms which are not only social, but also political and cultural. Storage of scores makes it possible for corporate, non-academic interests to access themRugh 13 — Peter Rugh, Brooklyn-based reporter who contributes to Vice.com and is a correspondent for WagingNonviolence.org, 2013 (“Exposed: How Murdoch, Bill Gates and Big Corporations are Data Mining our Schools,” Truthout, May 2nd, Available Online at http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16130-exposed-how-murdoch-bill-gates-and-big-corporations-are-data-mining-our-schools, Accessed 06-22-2015) Last week, students across New York finished a set of tests taken over a two week period designed to measure their proficiency at reading and math against new federal college readiness standards known as Common Core. Some parents opted their children out of the exams in protest against what they described as the school system's over-emphasis on testing and its use of data as the principle indicator of their children's achievement. Starting next year, those scores, along with students' personal information – race, economic background, report cards, discipline records and personal addresses – will be stored in a database designed by Wireless Generation, a subsidiary of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
inBloom is receiving $50 million for their services from the New York Education Department through a contract awarded last fall. Data analyzing firms, educational software designers and other third-party venders, both for and not-for-profit, will be granted access to student information. New York is not alone in turning to student data tracking system to measure performance. Some 200,000 U.S. teachers use Wireless Generation software as part of a national trend in which education administrators are increasingly turning to data analysis to grasp why America's pupils are flunking when compared to the rest of the world. “I am a deep believer in the power of data to drive our decisions,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan shortly after his appointment to the post in 2008. “Data gives us the roadmap to reform. It tells us where we are, where we need to go, and who is most at risk.” But the consolidation of individual student information has been raising eyebrows — and sparking a backlash. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is suing Duncan's Education Department for amending privacy regulations in 2011 that allow student data to be accessed for non-educational objectives without informing parents — a violation, EPIC contends, of the Family Educational Rights Privacy and Privacy Act. According to inBloom's privacy policy, the company is not responsible for security breaches; though it will “use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure student records are kept private,” inBloom “cannot guarantee the security of the information stored in inBloom or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted.” Last week, New York parents sent a letter to the Board of Regents, which oversees the state's public schools, decrying the “plan to share highly confidential, personally identifiable student data” with inBloom. They expressed fear that the company intends to share their children's information “with for-profit vendors without parental notification or consent.” After parents in Louisiana raised similar concerns, plans to hand over student data to inBloom were put on hold two weeks ago. Contrary to statements from Louisiana Education Superintendent John White, the state has not cancelled its contract with the company, according to a spokesperson for inBloom. The spokesperson also said it is up to inBloom's clients, not inBloom, to determine what data the company possesses and who is granted access. In Louisiana, that could include student social security numbers, which double as student ID digits in most districts. Besides New York and Louisiana, inBloom has contracts with seven other states. All are part of the Shared Learning Collaborative, a pilot program set up by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to help implement Common Core standards through the tracking of student data. The Council of Chiefs, also a non-profit, is composed of the heads of America's state school systems who work together with corporations to collectively design education policy, in mold of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. CCSSO's corporate partners include Microsoft, Apple, Wireless Generation, IBM and Discovery Education – a spin-off of the television channel that gave us Amish Mafia. Then there are the big publishing houses: McGraw-Hill, Scholastic, and Pearson that design the standardized tests that produce the data which feeds inBloom, Wireless and others. Together, these tech, media and publishing corporations work with policymakers to integrate their products into curricula. “I used to think there would be an uproar if I made this stuff public,” said one programmer who designs student tracking systems, and who wished to remain anonymous in order to protect his job. “Then, I discovered that it's all already public. They're devising extra-governmental systems to handle student learning right before our eyes. The state is using its monopoly on education to benefit certain corporations.” Pearson, however, might have pushed its buddy-buddy relationship with education administrators a little too far. The publisher, which recently received a $32 million contract to design Common Core test prep materials for New York, is currently under investigation from the state Attorney General's office for using its nonprofit wing, the Pearson Foundation, to finance trips abroad taken by NYSED officials. Yet, for the most part, by cloaking its aims in the guise of philanthropy the private sector has successfully nuzzled its way into the sphere of public education. And there are big bucks to be had. “When it comes to K through 12 education,” Rupert Murdoch put it upon acquiring Wireless Generation in 2010, “we see a $500 billion sector in the U.S. alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching.” To help ensure that News Corp. gets its share of the education pie (translation: "to extend the reach of great teaching"), the media baron tagged an industry insider to do his bidding, taking on former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein as an adviser. “Government and for-profit education businesses are becoming ever more inextricably inter-connected,” commented Michael McGill, superintendent for schools in Scarsdale, New York, upon learning of the state's plan to house his students info with the Murdoch/Gates start-ups. “This is a development that merits public concern and close public scrutiny. 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