Via video and written test.
Pearson has huge power over public education already. They are in charge of the Florida testing...the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) and the new End of Course tests coming in 2014. They already have the contract for that in Florida.
Here is more of what they do. From the Washington Post, a column by Diane Ravitch.
Pearson’s expanding role in educationIt is difficult to remember what part of American education has not been invaded by Pearson’s corporate grasp. It receives billions of dollars to test millions of students. Its scores will be used to calculate the value of teachers. It has a deal with the Gates Foundation to store all the student-level data collected at the behest of Race to the Top. It recently purchased Connections Academy, thus giving it a foothold in the online charter industry. And it recently added the GED to its portfolio.
Some teacher candidates are refusing to be turned over to Pearson.
Now we learn from Michael Winerip in the New York Times that Pearson has made a deal with Stanford University to license teachers, no matter what state they are in.
The deal is this: the school of education is supposed to send Pearson two 10-minute videos of the prospective teacher, plus the response to a written examination. Someone in the Pearson shop–possibly a retired teacher–will evaluate the prospect and decide after a brief review, whether they should get a license to teach.
It seems the teaching candidates at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst say they won’t do it. They prefer to be evaluated by the people who see them teach every day. Their professors prefer to use their judgment about their students, rather than to outsource it to people who will never see their students face-to-face.
Ravitch points out it is possible to say no to these actions that would harm public schools. She says "We can stop the outsourcing of responsibility from public institutions to Pearson and other providers."
Me, I wonder if we can stop it now. I don't see much caring or outrage at the usual forums about the treatment of public school teachers. I don't see much outrage about the lack of accountability when schools are closed and turned into charters. Or when public money is given to private religious schools which can choose their own curriculum.
I hope Ravitch is right, but now both major parties support this outsourcing of public education.
I saw a post at Daily Kos the other day about what is going on in education. It was a very good diary about a group called
Democrats for Education Reform.If you know Daily Kos, you know that posts drop quickly unless they make the recommended list quickly. Here's the odd part. The post had 327 Shares and 78 Tweets. It only had 4 recommends, one of them mine. I did not see it until days later and wondered how I missed it.
Our city is about to be torn apart academically by two high schools fighting to become charters. The school board is split, the parents and teachers are split.
One of the main reasons given is that by becoming a charter the schools will get more money and more resources. Other cities throughout this country are facing the same battles. Growing more charters is the policy of this administration, yet I watched a show the other night that only blamed the Republicans.
You can't take money and resources from public education, give it to management companies, testing companies...and still have a strong public education.
