Ask Arne: The Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education

So Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education has stuck his foot in his mouth many times along the way. Looks like he's making an effort toward damage control mixed with a healthy dose of propaganda, with a video entitled "Ask Arne: The Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education".


The part I found most interesting is from minute 1:40 to 3:55:

Interviewer:
There's concern around private corporations and philanthropists that are involved in public education and some skepticism as well about who's providing the funding. So what is the role of private dollars in public education?

Duncan:
I think it's important because sadly education in under invested in in the vast majority of places around the country, there's always tremendous unmet need. Whether it's more time for teachers, whether it's more money for professional development, whether it's money for after school programs for kids, summer school programs, whatever it might be, having philanthropy, foundations, having businesses step in and help there, um, I think that's a good thing.

And you gotta be smart, you gotta have good partnerships, so what I don't want is schools to become islands isolated from the rest of the community, that doesn't make sense. But when it's all hands on deck, when everyone's working together, where schools are becoming community centers, that's a really important thing, and it's very very helpful.

So just couple examples, places like the GE Foundation, have provided a lot of time and energy and resources to help in terms of teachers' professional development, math and literacy training.

Places like the Ford Foundation, have helped to sponsor our Labor Management Conference every single year, allowing hundreds of school districts, uh, labor leaders, school board members, and management to come and work together on tough issues.

[Obvious editing cut occurred here in the video.]

Places like the Joyce Foundation helped in terms of teacher evaluation, also did fantastic work trying to reduce gun violence, which is a huge issue that plagues Chicago and other places around the country.

IBM has sponsored a fantastic school in New York that the president and I visited: P-Tech, where young people can now not just graduate with a high school diploma, but graduate with an associate degree; two years of your college is paid for.

These are actually very productive and positive partnerships. Again, all of this should be determined at the local level, not by us. And it should be done in a thoughtful strategic way. But with so much unmet need for students, for teachers, for schools, to shut the door, let's say, to all of these people who are bad somehow, or have an agenda of hurting kids or hurting teachers, um, that simply hasn't been my experience.

US Senator Markey Cares About The Privacy Issue

On January 14, 2014, US Senator Edward J. Markey issued a press release:

As data analytics companies increasingly play a role in the education area, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today announced plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to ensure that safeguards are in place for students data shared with third parties. Recent changes to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have allowed for the increased sharing and use of student data in the private sector. The student data shared with private companies may vary from information such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, to other data such as disabilities, family relationships, and disciplinary data. In October, Senator Markey wrote a letter to the Department of Education (DOE) requesting more information on the privacy rights of parents and children when sensitive student information is shared with third parties. [The DOE finally responded in January, and you can read that here.]

“Putting students’ sensitive information in private hands raises a number of concerns about the privacy rights of parents and their kids, some who may be as young as five years old,” said Senator Markey, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “The time to act is now, before parents lose control of their children’s personal information. Parents, not private companies, have the right to control personal information about their children. We should help student scholars make the grade, not help companies make a sale. I look forward to working with my colleagues to introduce and pass this important and timely legislation.”

Senator Markey’s legislation will be guided by the following principles:

• Student data should never be used for commercial purposes – to market products to kids.
• Parents should have the right to access the personal information about their children, and amend that information if it’s incorrect, that is held by private companies as they would if the data was held by the school itself.  
• There must be safeguards put in place to safeguard sensitive student data that is transferred to and then held by private companies. 
• Private companies must delete the information that they no longer need to enhance educational quality for students.   

The Mangled FERPA Law

For those of you who may not know, FERPA stands for "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act". It is a federal law that served to protect our children's privacy and give parents significant control over it, until 2011 when it was changed by the US Department of Education "to allow the release to third parties of student information for non-academic purposes. The rules also broaden the exceptions under which schools can release student records to non-governmental organizations without first obtaining written consent from parents."
 
I came across a video on YouTube by the US Department of Education, called "Student Privacy 101: FERPA for Parents and Students" telling us how great FERPA is:



"It provides the right for you to access that information, to seek to correct it, and generally to consent to its disclosure." [Emphasis mine.]

"FERPA requires schools and state educational agencies to keep the information that came from...records private, and get...parent's written consent before sharing it with anyone else. There are some exceptions. But the general rule, is...records are confidential." [Again, the emphasis is mine.]

The "general" parts of FERPA are the ones that parents already concretely know, or simply assume. The parts parents need to have pointed out to them are the parameters outside the "general" area. Regarding who states are allowed to share personally identifiable with, the FERPA law specifically says:

Subpart D—May an Educational Agency or Institution Disclose Personally Identifiable Information From Education Records?

§99.31 Under what conditions is prior consent not required to disclose information?
     (a) An educational agency or institution may disclose personally identifiable information from an education record of a student without the consent required by §99.30 if the disclosure meets one or more of the following conditions:
          (6)(i) The disclosure is to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions to:
            (A) Develop, validate, or administer predictive tests;
            (B) Administer student aid programs; or
            (C) Improve instruction.

This means that as it stands now, Personally Identifiable Information can be shared with for-profit corporations, including curriculum companies, testing companies, and even Google, since they "improve instruction" with the Google Docs.

So what's the big deal? The big deal is what Personally Identifiable Information means (again, directly from the federal statute):

    §99.3 What definitions apply to these regulations?
         Personally Identifiable Information. The term includes, but is not limited to—
              (a) The student's name;
              (b) The name of the student's parent or other family members;
              (c) The address of the student or student's family;
              (d) A personal identifier, such as the student's social security number, student number, or biometric record;
              (e) Other indirect identifiers, such as the student's date of birth, place of birth, and mother's maiden name...

So yup, for-profit companies can have your kids' social security number if the state decides to share it.

In February 2012 the Electronic Privacy Information Center, heretofore referred to as EPIC, and which is "a public interest research center in Washington, D.C... established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values", filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Education and argued that "the agency exceeded its authority with the changes, and also that the revised regulations are not in accordance with the 1974 privacy law." However, in September 2013 a federal court dismissed the lawsuit holding that neither EPIC nor any of its Board of Director co-plaintiffs "have standing to bring the claims asserted in the complaint." You can read the details of that case here.

And you can read about how Connecticut laws make it even easier for for them to share the information, here.

And finally, come back tomorrow to read about what's currently happening with the privacy issue.

The Words of CT State Representative Laura Hoydick

Someone who is part of a Facebook page I follow shared a response they got to a letter they sent to Rep. Laura Hoydick:


Thank you for your email and for educating us last night in ways we can make substantial cognitive changes to the policies that are now in place. I agree with you--this is not just about teacher evaluation but is also about Common Core. I support and will advocate stopping the implementation of the new evaluative process, SBAC and common core right now. Never in all the years that I have been involved in education has such a huge initiative been implemented this quickly without collaboration. Not only does it sicken me but it saddens me that yet again we have such little regard and respect one of the greatest institutions we have in Connecticut. I am sorry for the stress and anxiety for what you have experienced these last 18 months and please know I have great admiration for you and your fellow colleagues. I greatly value the work you do.

Laura Hoydick (the daughter, granddaughter, mother and niece of public school educators)
State Representative
120th Assembly District

The Words of CT State Representative Gail Lavielle

January 29, 2014

Adopting the Common Core is a sweeping statewide change that affects all students in the public schools and public school teachers across the board. Any change of this magnitude should be subjected to proper public scrutiny and review by the legislative body that represents these constituents.

I have met with hundreds of teachers across the state, and they have told me the same thing over and over again: the heavy administrative load being imposed upon them by the Common Core implementation is compounding the problems they have with the new evaluation system, and together, these two issues are taking them away from their primary job in the classroom. These teachers are not yet confident that either of these processes is benefiting students.

I am pleased that the Governor wants to slow down the implementation process, but his plan does not go nearly far enough in addressing the concerns of teachers and parents. He is once again giving the job of making decisions about implementing the Common Core Standards to an outside advisory council, excluding the legislature and keeping the public out of the discussion. It’s important for the members of the state’s representative body to be fully informed and equipped to assist their constituents in this important area. Discussions must be held openly and decisions must not continue to be made behind closed doors.

The Weekly Quote

“I have told parents don’t look at the standards. They are in eduspeak. Just learn what your child is supposed to get to.”

~ Don Romoser
Connecticut's Statewide PTA President

The Words of CT State Representative Melissa Ziobran

Melissa Ziobron posted this on her blog on January 18th:

I have been hearing from parents, teachers, students and even Board of Education members who are concerned about the aspects of Common Core in their schools. Parents have sent me detailed information regarding a variety of issues that they have with the standards that are greatly impacting their children. I have been appreciative of their efforts of keeping me informed. As a mother to a high school student, I am also concerned.

Recently I attended a CEA Regional teachers meeting where I met with teachers from around Middlesex County, including East Hampton and East Haddam. I heard first time teachers tell their story--that they might be giving up on teaching because frankly they are losing the excitement they once had for changing kids lives. Instead it has been replaced with stress over "observation sequences" and they are afraid of taking risks with bringing forward new ideas for fear of not making the grade in their evaluations. Now instead of taking hours to prepare new and exciting material in their classroom they are spending 4-5 hours preparing lessons that encompass 45 minutes of teaching time-- which are dedicated to testing. Teachers with 20 years are telling me they feel trapped, because it is too late for them to change careers. Guidance counselors are spending more time counseling teachers, instead of students. Bloomboard has begun to be the focus of their preparation time, not child centered learning. Music teachers are spending time developing writing goals for their students and less time on music. PE teachers are going to the library once a month with their kids to evaluate their writing skills, which means less time on personal fitness. Administrators are getting crushed over the amount of paperwork needed to evaluate teachers and are spending less time on mentoring them. Teachers are telling me that they want to be evaluated fairly and the librarian is asking "how does my role fit the evaluation model?" The 100 teachers in attendance cried, yelled, begged and demanded to know why. I am fearful of what effect this has had on all the students and parents are sharing that same concern with me.

I am listening. I am also preparing legislation to affect the implementation of standards in Connecticut. I am not alone, just recently my friend and colleague, who is a current and former ranking member of the Education Committee is leading the way. In fact, Rep. Marilyn Giuliano is hosting a conversation on Common Core which I will be attending with some parents from East Haddam. I will be bringing a similar community conversation to the 34th District in the next month as well. As a member of the Appropriations Committee I will do what I can to support legislation that helps our students and those that we trust to teach them.

I just recently learned the Superintendent of East Hampton schools will be hosting a "Superintendent's Forum on the Common Core & Smarter Balance Assessment" which will be held on January 30th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the East Hampton Middle School and it is open to the public. I will be attending and I encourage you to be as well.

In East Haddam there has also been vocal issues with the morale at the schools. Last week, I was given a copy of a climate survey, outlining teachers issues there. While some of the information on it may be district specific, it also speaks to the frustration of Common Core statewide. I know one friend who is a teacher outside of East Haddam told me that "this very well could be applied to my district and that of many other communities in Connecticut". I am not a teacher, but I will let you be the judge of that. If you would like a copy see this link.

I have until February 7th to complete my legislation request and in the meantime I will be doing additional research and listening to you. Please contact my office if you have any questions or would like to provide me with additional information.www.repziobron.com

I am listening, but more importantly, I am prepared to do something with your support.

State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney Calls for Commissioner Pryor’s Resignation

Hartford, CT – State Senate Minority Leader and gubernatorial hopeful John McKinney, released the following statement today [February 4th] calling on Stefan Pryor to resign as the Commissioner of Education for the State of Connecticut:

Commissioner Pryor’s chief assignment was to implement Governor Malloy’s education reform initiatives, including Common Core and teacher evaluations, and he has failed.

By choosing to implement these new programs with limited input from teachers and on an overly ambitious schedule, both the governor and the commissioner have lost the confidence of parents and educators across our state. The roll-out has been met with confusion and frustration by teachers, administrators and parents.

As we take a step back and reassess the implementation of education reform in Connecticut, I feel it is imperative to do so with new leadership.

This time, the department must listen to parents, teachers, administrators and students, and learn from the examples, both good and bad, of state’s that began the implementation of Common Core before us.

There is a national debate on the effectiveness of the new common core curriculum, the smarter balance tests that accompany the new curriculum, and their eventual effect on the evaluation of teachers. No matter where one stands on these issues, it is clear to me that successful education reform needs be accomplished through new leadership that earns the respect of those most affected by such major changes – parents, teachers, and administrators.

Connecticut Launches Common Core Website for Educators and Parents

In a press release dated February 4th, the CT State Department of Education announced that they  

launched CTcorestandards.org, a website for Connecticut educators and parents regarding the Common Core State Standards. This online resource is devoted to providing accurate information to foster greater public awareness and concrete supports to aid in the implementation of these new college- and career-ready standards.

This website provides a variety of vetted and useful resources to teachers, administrators, parents, and community members regarding the Common Core. That said, this website is a work in progress and its contents and features will evolve with input from these key stakeholders," said Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor. "It's important that we provide the tools that educators and other stakeholders need in order to help our students reach these college- and career-ready standards. This website is just a part of our effort to support teachers and school leaders as they prepare for the Common Core..."

CTcorestandards.org represents one resource among many offered by the state to assist in the successful implementation of the new college- and career-ready standards. The website contains parent-, student- and community-friendly materials that explain the Common Core State Standards. Materials are translated into multiple languages to ensure that the information is accessible to as many families as possible, and the library of translated materials is expected to grow.

I have only just begun to explore the website, and see what kind of propaganda it is filled with, but already I am struck with this:

mostly because the Standards, at this point, are supposed to be only for ELA (English Language Arts) and Math. So why would they have CC materials available for all this other stuff? When I have more time I'll be looking through it all.

Please leave comments about your thoughts.

The Words of CT State Representative Mitch Bolinsk

Someone who is part of a Facebook page I follow shared a response they got to a letter they sent to Rep. Mitch Bolinsky:

Thank you for writing. Many folks have expressed their concerns about Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessment processes. I share your concerns and am working with fellow members of the Education Committee to delay implementation until after a public hearing can be conducted to fully vet the programs, a process that has not taken place. We are also calling for a moratorium on spending to enact Common Core, including the reported $1 million public relations campaign, until after the hearing.

I have been meeting and communicating electronically with teachers, parents and school administrators in an attempt to understand everyone's concerns about the implementation of Common Core and the evaluation system, both largely unknown and untested - even in this, its first year of implementation. We are finding early-on that parents, teachers and administrators are pushing back and expressing serious reservations about the ambiguities of the program. Past experience leads me to believe that, the more onerous we allow the powers-that-be to make the testing, the more teachers will be pressured to teach only to the test, thereby eliminating practical, subject-based learning. Teachers are concerned that creativity will become a thing of the past. I have heard horror stories of students breaking into tears because of the pressure brought on by all the additional testing. There are huge, non-curriculum demands on student and teacher time and, from my perspective, hours spent in activities that detract from learning just do not belong in our schools.

We have a lot of kinks to work out in these programs, making this a very hot topic for this upcoming legislative session.

Please stay tuned and feel free to write again with new concerns or observation.

Best Regards,

Mitch Bolinsky
Representing Newtown's 106th District
In the Connecticut General Assembly

The Words of CT State Representative Penny Bacchiochi

Education is the foundation to the future of our state. If we are implementing standards that so many teachers, administrators, school districts and parents disagree with, then we are doing more harm than help. The state’s Common Core standards need to have public and professional input – something they never saw during the administration’s decision to move forward with it.

 ~ CT State Rep. Penny Bacchiochi

Video of the Parent Teacher Community Forum from January 25th

This is footage from the infomercial presentation that was given on January 25th in CT, and which I wrote about here. I have to admit I did not watch this video all the way through, since I was there, so I don't know what is said in all the interviews they did in the hall after the presentation. The interesting part starts at 4:30 where Sandra Alberti starts taking questions from the audience.

The Words Of CT State Senator Toni Boucher, 26th District

State Senator Toni Boucher, who is up for re-election this year, posted this to her website on January 27, 2014:

Many politicians say they want to make a difference, but in my view there are only two places where one can truly make a difference, in the home or in the classroom. When a home fails a child there is only one place left, the classroom. Right now some people feel that the classroom is endangered.

Connecticut has always prided itself on its premier national standing in educational quality and attainment. Apart from having no income tax, education was Connecticut’s best competitive advantage. These advantages are now gone, we have an income tax and we lost a lot of ground on the education front. The last three decades of our state’s efforts to address issues of education equity, changing demographics and shifting academic priorities have resulted in a cascade of mandates.

Today, school districts are expected to hastily implement Common Core national standards and a new teacher evaluation system. No wonder our school districts feel overwhelmed and asking for a year delay in grading of their results.

The Common Core curriculum and the accompanying “Smarter Balance” tests, replacing the CT Mastery Test, are being adopted throughout Connecticut and the nation. What is Common Core, and why are people so concerned about it? The National Governors and State Education Executives Associations hired David Coleman and Jason Zimba to write a set of national unified educational standards and accompanying tests. Funding was provided by the Bill Gates Foundation among others. 

It was argued that the resulting curriculum would be more rigorous, accountable, relevant and comparable. It would utilize computer adaptive testing, bring divergent state learning goals into alignment, reflect skills needed in the marketplace, and generally make students – college and job ready.

Nevertheless, the Common Core program has its critics. Some argue that Common Core mandates a one size fits all curriculum and is not written at a high enough level required for acquisition of 21st century skills. Others argue that the adaptive testing is not adaptive enough.

Like the CMT, it is pegged to grade-level ceilings, and is unable to measure academic growth of high achievers.

The lack of means by which the Common Core program can be revised and modified is considered another serious flaw, especially that the curriculum would be implemented without control group testing. It should also be noted that the curriculum was developed without input by parents, teachers, school boards or any state or national legislative body.

In the face of growing resistance to the insufficiently prepared implementation of the new system, some teachers and politicians from the left and the right have pulled their support of the Common Core. Some of the 45 states that agreed to implement it are now withdrawing, which may defeat the program’s stated goal of creating an alignment between states.

Both sides arguing this issue have undertaken media campaigns costing millions of dollars. Many believe that this money would be better spent on technology, software, social workers and additional reimbursement for special education and transportation. These funds could also help in opening more slots for wait listed preschool and Vo-Tech students.

All the controversy surrounding Common Core threatens to divert attention from what I believe should be the primary focus of education. To reclaim its education advantage, Connecticut’s priority should be to foster literacy at the earliest possible age. If a child cannot read, it is impossible for that child to succeed in school or in life.

Like millions of other immigrants I know this at first hand. I arrived in Naugatuck with my family from a farm in Italy when I was 5, speaking no English. Because of a father who believed that education was everything and thanks to great public school teachers, I was able to succeed and live the American dream. That dream can be quickly extinguished, however, for those who are unable to read.

Keep it simple

We must focus all our resources on teaching students to read, write, do math, and think critically and creatively. We must reclaim Connecticut’s reputation for educational excellence by making teachers and parents partners, not adversaries.

They are on the front lines every day, and know more than anyone what changes need to be made. Many of them believe that implementing a system that is still under construction is like building a ship while sailing it. They recommend pushing the pause button on Common Core. It may benefit us to listen to them.

Please click here to read my recent letter to State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor concerning this very issue.


You can follow Toni Boucher on her website here.

Common Core is on the CT Legislative list of "Major Issues" for 2014

Every year legislative leaders ask the Office of Legislative Research (OLR) to identify and provide brief descriptions of important issues that the General Assembly may face in the coming session.

This report represents the professional, nonpartisan views of staff in OLR, the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA), and the Legislative Commissioners’ Office (LCO) regarding possible upcoming legislative issues. It does not represent staff suggestions or recommendations. We identified issues based on interim studies; research requests; non-confidential discussions with legislators, other legislative participants, and executive branch agencies; and our general subject matter knowledge.

OLR compiled this report on the major issues for the 2014 session in consultation with OFA and LCO. OLR analysts wrote the issue descriptions below, except for the Appropriations Committee description, which OFA provided.

Taken from page eight:

Common Core State Standards and Teacher Evaluation

Connecticut is one of 45 states rolling out the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math and language arts (English). Full implementation of the standards is scheduled in Connecticut for the 2014-15 school year, and the legislature may want to consider bills that address possible issues related to implementation and the accompanying new standardized tests. (A few states, including Massachusetts, are slowing the pace of CCSS testing implementation.) Since the new tests are administered on computers, one issue could be improving the technological capability of school districts to give the new tests.

Connecticut is also in the process of implementing new teacher evaluation systems in every school district. To avoid too many changes taking place simultaneously in the education system, the state may seek a delay in full implementation of the evaluation system until there is more time for teachers and students to adapt to CCSS. Connecticut is currently waiting for federal flexibility approval regarding testing tied to CCSS and the timing of the full implementation of the teacher evaluation.

The General Assembly may need to consider legislation that would help the state gain federal approval.

Read OLR’s report:
2013-R-0344, OLR Backgrounder: Common Core State Standards

Connecticut Teachers Get Some Relief From Evaluations

Honestly I hadn't planned to report much on the Teacher Evaluations aspect of CC, but since the teachers are clearly stepping up and making a difference here in CT, it's time to follow their story too:

In June of 2012 the CT State Department of Education issued a press release:

The Connecticut State Board of Education Wednesday approved action items designed to elevate teaching and learning, improve educator effectiveness, and help develop comparable data on student absences from school.
 
In a unanimous vote, the Board approved consensus guidelines developed by the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC). The guidelines will inform implementation of model teacher and administrator evaluation and support systems in pilot districts throughout the state during the 2012-2013 school year...

Public Act 12-116, An Act Concerning Education Reform, requires annual performance evaluations of principals, administrators, and teachers, based upon a new standard of “effective practice” and a consensus framework developed by PEAC. The University of Connecticut‟s Neag School of Education will analyze administration and results in the ten pilots and report back to the General Assembly by October 1, 2013. Statewide implementation of the new evaluation and support system will begin in the 2013-2014 school year...

Jump to the 2013-2014 School year. On January 29th the State Department of Education issued a press release:

...the state Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) today took action to provide significant relief to educators whose schools and classrooms are currently undergoing multiple and simultaneous changes... the council agreed to provide educators with additional flexibility in implementing new educator evaluation and support systems...

The recommendations agreed on today will enable districts to decouple state standardized test data in educator evaluations for the 2014-15 school year (extended from this academic year), pending federal approval. They also provide districts the option to reduce the number of time-consuming formal observations and further clarify that the minimum number of required student learning objectives for each educator can be one. PEAC also agreed to streamline the data management requirements at the classroom level while ensuring the protection of data from unauthorized users.

It's noteworthy that the words "pending federal approval" are included since in accepting money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for for NCLB (No Child Left Behind) waivers, we agreed to set up Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and "Fully implement Educator Evaluation" by 2013-2014.

Here is a chart that PEAC released showing the Teacher Evaluation Issue, Current Requirement, and Flexibility Options; how life will be easier now. After we get federal approval.

Connecticut is Waking Up

OK I admit I've been slacking; I haven't been consistent in my postings here. But to be fair, so much of the attention regarding Common Core has been on New York, and there has not been much to report here in Connecticut.

Well times are changing. This has been a busy week.

This past Saturday, January 25th I attended a Common Core infomercial presentation, hosted by a myriad of organizations that I first mentioned here. I had actually gotten an email from my middle schooler's PTA telling parents about it.

I have to admit, Sandra Alberti, of Student Achievement Partners (founded by the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards) did a great job as keynote speaker. Much of what she was saying made good sense. For example, she talked about how it used to be possible to get by in Language Arts without having to read any of the assigned material because the questions asked afterward made it unnecessary, but under Common Core the questions relate to the material (click the image to see it larger):



And how can anyone really argue with that? In fact, Ms. Alberti did a great job talking about all the stuff surrounding Common Core that makes sense. And some of it actually does. But that's all she talked about. Although she never became visibly flustered during her presentation or during the Q&A afterwards, it was clobber-over-the-head obvious that she was evading the tough questions that people asked.

In fact, I have to say I was pretty darned thrilled with the questions people asked. I had a couple I had thought I would ask, but teachers were in the audience and really pressing for answers, so I kept my mouth shut. Questions were about the developmentally appropriateness of the material for the younger kids, income disparity and classroom size contributing to our problems but not being addressed, the SBAC testing and how so much time is being taken away from class to teach the kids how to take the thing, teacher evaluations, and on and on.  One "member of the audience said that Connecticut’s state standardized tests, the CMT and CAPT, already ask students for evidence — evidence that is a feature of the new Smarter Balanced Assessments tied to CCSS. The audience member explained that it does not make sense to switch to the CCSS linked tests when the Connecticut tests already do some of the same things;" she asked outright why we were switching.

It was so encouraging to see all those teachers voicing their concerns. It's an election year here in Connecticut and Governor Malloy needs the teachers' votes.

You can read more about the day, and the questions asked (including the one quoted above) here.

And come back here tomorrow to read more about the increasing awareness of the realities of Common Core. It's starting to get interesting.

The Weekly Quote

"HIPAA does not apply to health information that is subject to FERPA. That means if health information is maintained in school records—for example, in a school health office administered by an educational agency—its use and disclosure is governed by FERPA, not by HIPAA."

~ Data Quality Campaign
Complying with FERPA and Other Federal Privacy and Security Laws and Maximizing Appropriate Data Use

The Technology Factor in Common Core

Technology is playing an increasing role in education, especially as Common Core pushes it to. The new SBAC testing, which is replacing CMTs and CAPTs here in Connecticut, will all be done on computers. So obviously, the schools need computers. But where are they going to come from?

Connecticut is borrowing 25 million dollars to specifically "provide a grant-in-aid to various school districts statewide for the purchase of computers, tablets and other electronic devices in order to meet the requirements of Common Core. All capital purchases meet the Smarter Balanced Technology Strategy Framework and System Requirements Specifications to ensure that local districts are test-ready."

My town received $202,575 of that money. Recently at a PTO meeting our Superintendent admitted that he was surprised to have received it, since typically "towns like ours" do not get such grants, that those grants "usually go to more urban areas". Which basically means that districts that are more cash-strapped will not be getting more help to purchase all this equipment than the rest of the state. Nevertheless, the money is here, and my town plans to "provide all grade 7 and 8 students with Chromebooks to use throughout the school day in order to access the learning resources, Google Drive, and the Internet as needed in every class."

A while back I posted a link to an article about my town's purchase to a Facebook group I'm part of, expressing concerns about these things. I commented "No word from my kiddo yet on whether they will be allowed to bring them home. If not, I will have to buy him his own and refuse to allow him to use the school's."  People kept asking what the problem was with allowing my son to use it.

My response:

There are several issues. 13yo is already using online websites where the school has him use his real name, so I have privacy concerns. (Chromebooks aside, Google is already collecting lots of information about my kids via Google Docs since everything they do is submitted to teachers that way. So Google has a nice collection of all my kids' papers and opinions on a whole slew of topics.)

There is no way my kiddo will use the thing for school stuff only, even during school hours. So now the school will also have information about his surfing habits and interests.

Also, I will have no way to know what he's working on at school if he is not allowed to bring it home. Chromebooks that can't come home represent more and more parental exclusion from our kids' educations. This has already been a problem with Social Studies since in that class there are no textbooks, no worksheets, and only my kiddo to tell me what's going on in his classroom.

 And now, a month later, I'm reading an article that states:

Rival Google wants in on the game on the taxpayers’ dime, too.

The company’s “Chromebooks,” which use a cloud-based operating system mimicking the Google Chrome browser, are gaining market share rapidly. While they are cheaper than iPads, they depend on reliable WiFi. Google offers a suite of Google Apps for Education (GAFE) for “free.”

Google can collect student/family data to target ads through related services outside the GAFE suite, such as YouTube for Schools, Blogger and Google Plus. These are not covered under the already watered-down federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Under the Obama administration, Grand Canyon-sized loopholes in FERPA have already opened data mining to third-party private entities.

One parent shared her kids’ experience with the Chromebooks online: “The biggest problems to date are that kids figured out quickly how to bypass security so they could look at non-approved web material… Many preferred traditional textbooks; others resented the teachers being able to spy on them with the software embedded in the Chromebook.”

Another savvy mom noted: “If you think Google won’t be handing over any and all data it gets from your kids using their Chromebooks, you’re nuts.”

My concerns stand. And others are finally waking up to the problem.

Are you?

Connecticut is going into further debt for Common Core

In his article entitled Malloy/Pryor Common Core Strategy - Hey, but we've got some computers! Jonathan Pelto, former member of the CT House of Representatives, writes:

"Governor Malloy's budget provides no additional state funding for major local educational expenses like special education and school transportation...

"Connecticut's Education Funding Formula (ECS) is approximately $2 billion underfunded... The result is that school budgets are hurting, teachers are being let go, class sizes are increasing and there are more and more reports of cut-backs in school programs and services...

"Governor Malloy has directed the State's Bond Commission to borrow $22,619,148 for Common Core equipment...

"The Malloy Administration writes, 'All capital purchases meet the Smarter Balanced Technology Strategy Framework and System Requirements Specifications to ensure that local districts are test-ready.'

"The ultimate cost that communities will have to pay to purchase Common Core computers and software, as well as expand internet capabilities, will be significantly more than the money that is being provided by state of Connecticut...

Read the entire article here.

From The Social Networking Frontier