by Diane Ravitch
...Alexander
( a writer at Newsweek) also seems never
to have read the joint report
by the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of
Education, which spelled out why it is wrong
to judge teachers by student test scores because of the many factors affecting
test scores that are beyond their control.
Newsweek
writer Alexander says that some critics of Common Core are “conspiracy
theorists who deem the whole project a massive payout to test maker Pearson.”
That may or may not be true, but Common Core is certainly creating a huge
national marketplace for Pearson and McGraw-Hill, as well as vendors of
software and hardware (all Common Core testing is done online, which is
diverting billions of dollars from school budgets). Perhaps Alexander has heard
of the regular conferences for entrepreneurs devoted to the subject of
monetizing the education industry and cashing in on the opportunities presented
by Common Core.
One such conference was held just last week by Global Silicon
Valley in Scottsdale. The purpose of national standards was to build a national
marketplace for entrepreneurs. Joanne Weiss, who directed Race to the Top and
then became Secretary Arne Duncan’s chief of staff, predicted that this would
be the outcome of national standards when she wrote on the
Harvard Business Review blog:
“The
development of common standards and shared assessments radically alters the
market for innovation in curriculum development, professional development, and
formative assessments. Previously, these markets operated on a state-by-state basis,
and often on a district-by-district basis. But the adoption of common standards
and shared assessments means that education entrepreneurs will enjoy national
markets where the best products can be taken to scale.”
As a historian of education, I can say
that this is the first time to my knowledge that the U.S. Department of
Education encouraged the development of national standards in order to increase
the involvement of the private sector in supplying goods and services to the
schools.
Read the
entire piece here.
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