Education Program’s Data Collection On Kids Angers Critics
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canada goose clearance sale CORY TURNER, BYLINE: This story begins at the end of a conversation I had recently with Michigan State Representative canada goose black friday sale Tom McMillin. canada goose clearance sale
TURNER: I had called McMillin to talk about his opposition to the Common Core standards these canada goose uk shop are new national standards for students kindergarten through 12th grade that replace state standards in math and English language arts. The Core have been adopted in most Canada Goose Coats On Sale states, and McMillin has fought hard against them. But I hadn’t asked about one of his biggest concerns.
canada goose coats MCMILLIN: Data mining, privacy, databases that you are following and tracking every child I mean, it just falls along this line of central planners. They think that the more data and the more privacy that they’re able to delve into, Canada Goose sale the more they’ll be able to figure out what to do for each child. canada goose coats
TURNER: And McMillin isn’t alone. Here’s talk show host Glenn Beck.
Canada Goose Jackets GLENN BECK: canada goose store Common Core, it calls for massive amounts of personal data on students, including health care histories, income information, religious affiliation, blood types, what how are your parents voting. Canada Goose Jackets
Canada Goose Parka TURNER: To some critics, the Core and data are both four letter words and buy canada goose jacket together a dangerous Canada Goose online step toward an Orwellian nanny state. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan buy canada goose jacket cheap is flabbergasted by this argument and fired back in a recent speech. Canada Goose Parka
cheap Canada Goose SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN: They say that the Common Core calls for the federal collection of student data. For the record, it doesn’t. We’re not allowed to do that, and it won’t. cheap Canada Goose
Canada Goose online TURNER: I have the standards right here. A lot of pages and not a word that I could find about student data. So I pushed back on Representative McMillin of Michigan, show me the connection between the Core and data mining. Canada Goose online
Canada Goose Outlet MCMILLIN: Our Smarter Balanced contract requires that we https://www.pick-canadagoose.com give that data up individually, per child, for research purposes. Canada Goose Outlet
buy canada goose jacket cheap TURNER: When canada goose Michigan adopted the Common Core, it joined this thing called Smarter Balanced. Not the margarine, it’s a consortium of states that have all signed on to the Core. The purpose is to make sure they’re applying canada goose uk outlet the standards uniformly and to figure canada goose outlet out how to test students fairly. buy canada goose jacket cheap
To do that, McMillin is right, Smarter Balanced wants data. But it’s limited to broad categories: sex, age, race and ethnicity, whether or not a student qualifies for a free or reduced price lunch.
canada goose deals JOE cheap canada goose uk WILLHOFT: The student’s name and any identifying information about the student would be removed canada goose factory sale from the data. canada goose deals
buy canada goose jacket TURNER: That’s Joe Willhoft, the executive director of Smarter Balanced. He says his consortium is only allowed to use the data in blind clusters: Canada Goose Outlet no names, no Social Security numbers. So what about the Common Core forcing schools to ask students about blood type or how their parents vote? Well, if that’s happening somewhere in America, it has nothing to do with the Common Core or even with common canada goose clearance sale practice. buy canada goose jacket
canada goose coats on sale DR. HENRY JOHNSON: I’ve been an educator for 35 years canada goose coats on sale now and a principal for 17 years, and we have never at the school level had to report that kind of data. canada goose coats on sale
canada goose clearance TURNER: Henry Johnson is an assistant state superintendent for Maryland’s schools. Johnson and lots Canada Goose Jackets of other education experts say this debate about data and the Common Core obscures an important fact, that the collection of basic student information has been happening in most canada goose uk black friday states for canadian goose jacket years, things like grades, attendance and disability. And that data serves an important purpose, says Ken Wagner, an associate commissioner for the New York State Department of Education. canada goose clearance
canada goose KEN WAGNER: Teachers are best prepared to meet the individual learning needs of their students when they can see their the history of their educational records. canada goose
canada goose black friday sale TURNER: Wagner says keeping track of kids year to year, classroom to classroom helps educators understand the needs of students. And it helps states see what their schools are doing well and not so well. So I took all of this back to Michigan State Representative Tom McMillin, himself a parent. He was unconvinced. canada goose black friday sale
Canada Goose sale MCMILLIN: Trust but verify is not allowed in these databases and these arrangements. It’s trust and trust. And we’ve seen with the NSA and IRS that we cannot. Canada Goose sale
TURNER: And so to some, the idea of collecting student data is Orwellian, while to others what’s Orwellian is a school system not doing all it can to help its students succeed. Cory Turner, NPR News, Washington.
