Follow the Money in Pearson Standardized Tests

My last post mentioned the product placement that Pearson embedded in the state tests.  In 2013, for example, products mentioned included Mugs Root Beer (Pepsico), Melmac dinnerware, Lego/Mindstorms, IBM and FIFA.  I said someone should follow the money trail, so I did.

After complaints occurred about the very conspicuous and seemingly unrelated-to-text product placement on the 2013 NYS ELA standardized test, Antonia Valentine at the New York State Department of Education stated that the product names occurred because of the fact that "authentic texts" were used by Pearson.  She was quoted as stating that "Any brand names that occurred (in them) were incidental..." See here for full article.  Actually, a quick research trip on google reveals that the products mentioned were not so incidental.  Pearson had a financial interest that can be tied to every mention.

1.  Mugs Root Beer - It turns out that Rona A. Fairhead, who at the time the 2013 tests were published was the Executive Officer of the Financial Times Group division of Pearson, and had previously been their Chief Financial Officer, was elected to the Board of Directors at Pepsico in February, 2014. New Century Beverage Company, manufacturer of Mugs, is a subsidiary of Pepsico. This means that Ms. Fairhead would have had direct and continuing business dealings with Pepsico at least as early as 2013.  Did the product placement improve her standing with the company, and if so, did she pull strings at her workplace to make that happen?

2.  IBM - IBM and Pearson had already had a business relationship since at least 2007, when they announced a five year $128 million IT agreement between the two companies.  See the article here.  But wait, it gets better.  In 2014, IBM dumped Prometrics, the company that administered IBM professional certification exams.  Who did they give that business to?  Pearson.

3.  Lego/Mindstorms - In 2013, Pearson already had an agreement with LEGO that allowed them to publish curriculum on how to build and program Mindstorms robots.  But it gets even better than that.  In June of 2014, Lego and Pearson gleefully announced a partnership that would produce and sell lesson plans and manipulatives (the LEGOEducation StoryTales) for enhancing ELA curriculum. See article here.

4.  FIFA - Even the World Cups Games are not immune to Pearson's reach.  It turns out that Pearson franchises e-learning centers in Brazil and has helped to teach English to over 500,000 Brazilian students.  In December 2013, Pearson announced that they had made a major acquisition of a Brazilian English Language Training (ELT) company named GrupoMulti.  Their press release boasts that the demand for ELT services will accelerate in the future, due to the FIFA World Cup.  (See article here.)

So though we have been assured by our New York State Education Department, that no money changed hands in return for the product placements on the tests, it does seem that there was at least a tit-for-tat going on and that the placements were beneficial to Pearson financial interests.  In the meantime, our children were subjected to nothing less than shameful brand advertising during mandatory standardized tests, all paid for courtesy of the New York State taxpayers.

What Can the Pro-Public Education Movement Learn from NY Fracktivists?

On December 17, New York's anti-fracking community received an early holiday gift with the announcement that New York State would ban fracking.  This victory was an astounding turnaround from the situation just a few years ago.  There have been some news articles that have analyzed how/why this success occurred.  It made me wonder how those lessons could be applied in support of public education, which has been under attack from both pro-privatization government and business interests.

1.  Many small grassroots anti-fracking organizations sprang up in New York.  They had the good sense to unite their efforts to work together with not only state groups, but national groups as well.  We are also seeing this in the fight for public education, with outstanding groups such as the Badass Teachers Association, Save our Schools, Democrats for Public Education, United Opt Out, etc.  So far, however, AFT and NEA, along with state organizations like NYSUT, have not matched the efforts of the smaller organizations and have not reached out to create a united front.  In fact, they have accepted money and defended Common Core.  In my opinion a change in union tactics and/or leadership will be an essential step to combatting the money and political clout of the reformers.  Political change does not happen until opposition becomes a united movement.

2.  Citizen activation comes as a direct result of grassroots efforts.  Education of the public is essential - this was particularly difficult in the movement against fracking because at the start of the movement, the majority of citizens did not even know what fracking was.  There was much scientific and research-based information that had to be disseminated.  Some of this information was/is difficult for the layman to understand.  Documentaries like Greenland, which was screened in homes and small cinemas, as well as on social media and video channels, was essential to the building of this understanding.  Even The Simpsons had an episode where their water was on fire, indicating that anti-fracking points were being integrated into our cultural media.  Once people understood, they began protesting.  Signs on lawns, rallies, and (thanks to the coordinated efforts of organizations) dogged and ONGOING continuous protests at Cuomo appearances also helped to spread the word.  Social media was essential and letters, petitions, phone calls and/or visits to legislators were vitally important.  In the public education fight, most citizens do not understand what is really happening in our schools, and misinformation that comes from media attacks, etc., has convinced many that teachers are to blame for the "failure" of the public school system.  We are somewhat hampered by (understandable) teacher reticence to speak out, because they are in fear for their livelihood.  Creating a new public and social understanding of the web of deceit and misinformation that has been deliberately and carefully crafted by reformers is difficult, but not impossible.  Allying with parents in this struggle is essential.

3.  The movement did an excellent job of supporting the efforts of small governments to resist fracking.  Towns and cities passed prohibitive zoning ordinances that would keep fracking out of their communities.  When big oil and gas money and lawyers descended on them, communities were helped with fundraising efforts that enabled them to defend their resolutions in court, and they won.  This was a "pivot moment" in the fight.  Defenders of public education need to be willing to go to court over unfair school/teacher evaluation procedures, civil rights violations that occur in testing (see http://badassteachers.blogspot.com/2014/12/bats-send-open-letter-to-secretary.html), unfair funding of public schools, and unfair practices that favor for-profit corporations, among other things. A true partnership with teacher unions, local school boards, parent groups, and school districts should develop that would financially support the crucial legal plays that need to occur.  Everyone who is a part of the pro-public education movement should be attending and participating in their local school by attending board meetings.  We also need more representation on boards of education, parent associations, and other local government groups.

4.  Never underestimate the role of research studies, bloggers, and expert opinion. Scientific studies were crucial in combatting erroneous and misleading industry studies on the "safety of fracking". Pro-public education also has science and statistics on their side.  Studies that have decried the use of Value-Added Methodology (VAM) in teacher evaluations have been publicized, and solid evidence is building.  For example, the joint statement of the American Education Research Association and the National Academy of Education on the failure of VAM models used in teacher evaluations shows that solid research is on the side of educators (https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/getting-teacher-evaluation-right-challenge-policy-makers.pdf). Likewise, evidence that US schools are not a failure is out there (see http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/education-uprising/the-myth-behind-public-school-failure), as well as the effect of poverty on school/student performance (http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/10/education-poverty-international-student-assessment-column/3964529/).   Statistics and articles like this need to be relentlessly front and center in our efforts.Thankfully, the public education movement has many outstanding professionals who have produced and shared a prodigious amount of information on their blogs, and their voices are being picked up by newspapers like the Washington Post and Huffington Post.

5.  Politicians need to be called out and made to define their position in public statements.  Wherever there is a chance for questions and answers, on public record, the right questions need to be asked.  Some people feel Cuomo painted himself into a corner by continually referring (for political reasons) to the need to wait on scientific studies before making a decision on fracking.  When the science came in, he therefore could not make a case on an economic level.  Of course, Cuomo seems not to be shy about voicing his goal to destroy the "monopoly" of public education.  That is why we need to follow the money trail that is behind such positions, and publicize efforts like that of Zephyr Teachout to call out the hedge fund manipulators (https://greatschoolwars.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/corruption_in_education.pdf).  In New York State, for example, Pearson tests were rife with mentions of commercial products.  Pearson's response that this was because the passages were "authentic" does not ring true.  There has to be a money trail somewhere and perhaps someone can find it.  Where political contributions are swaying public education policy, we need to find out, and shout it out!

I believe we can win our fight to save public education.  The future of our children depends on it.

Open Letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama:

Why are you taking New York State’s failing educational leadership into your administration?

I am one of your supporters, though I do not agree with everything that you do.  I think you are a good man and leader, and I voted for you in both elections.  I thank you for your service, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

However, on your educational policy and administration, you unfortunately get a failing grade from this retired teacher, as well as from many other educators.  The reason I am writing to you today is the recent announcement that you will take NYS Commissioner John King into your administration.  My question is, WHY?

As Commissioner of NYS Education, King has had an administration full of controversy and failure.  Criticisms of his reign are many.  Foremost, the members of the NYS United Teachers (NYSUT) voted No Confidence and called for his removal in January of 2014.  Their press release stated that his rollout of Common Core had failed… “The commissioner has pursued policies that repeatedly ignore the voices of parents and educators who have identified problems and called on him to move more thoughtfully,” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. 

King’s response to criticism has been defensive and contentious, proving that he has little ability to listen and learn from others, and few political skills.  When criticized that he was unwilling to listen to the voices of those who had issues with the too-rapid and botched rollout of core curriculum, as well as testing that caused the “failure” of  70% of NYS students, King scheduled parent forums in October 2013.  When parents attended the forums in large numbers and pressed him for answers that he did not have, his fear of contention caused him to cancel additional planned events.  Parents were astounded at his lack of respect for the input he himself had sought, and the NYS Allies for Public Education, an advocacy group of over 42 parent organizations, called for his resignation.

He is also not an effective manager or leader.  He led the effort to create the EngageNY core-related curriculum, but once more instead of planning an effective process by involving teachers and pedagogical leaders, he funneled $12.9 million dollars of RTTT money to private corporations.  The lessons have been widely criticized by educators, students and parents.  Even NYSED has acknowledged that the lessons are weak, and they have now backpedaled and created a plan for teachers to revamp the curriculum for 2015-16.  In addition, directives and materials that have come to educators from his office have been filled with grammatical and other errors.

He is the second NYS education official to take a job with your administration this year – Amy McIntosh, who oversaw teachers evaluations, is now a deputy assistant secretary.  Under the individuals that you have taken into your camp, New York State schools and students have suffered, and educator morale is at an all-time low. 

Most vociferous in praise for Commissioner King is the StudentsFirstNY, a pro-charter reform group that seeks to privatize education.  In spite of the fact that Commissioner King lived within the boundaries of one of the best public schools in New York State (the school and staff  have received numerous national recognitions for its excellence), King chose to send his own children to a private school that does not require the abusive testing he foisted on NYS students.

President Obama, I am very disappointed at your apparent lack of care for public education, and that you have apparently bought into the pro-charter, pro-privatization line of propaganda.  The fact that you are filling your administration with individuals who are pro-charter and who by all appearances are most deliberately causing the public education system to fail, causes me great concern.  The present system of testing is abusive to students.  Common Core curriculum has many errors and is not developmentally sound for students.  The VAM and APPR evaluation model for teachers is flawed and I have no doubt that will be proven so in court cases, but my fear is that before it is, we will lose too many valuable prospective and in-service teachers to recover easily from the blow.  Some states have already begun teacher recruitment efforts in other countries.  Please educate yourself about the true needs of public education before your administration leaves a negative legacy of damage that will take generations to become fully known.