Pearson
Corporation (or Race to the Money) (BTW, thanks, Arne)
Noun: Pearson
Limited Company is a London-based publishing corporation, although it has a
secondary listing on the NYSE due to its financial holdings and operations in
North America. There are several
divisions of Pearson, ranging from financial publishing (Financial Times
newspapers), Penguin publishing, and education publishing (primarily testing
and test design). Pearson is considered
one of the largest book publishers in the world. In fact, beyond its current operations and
holdings, Pearson’s real business acumen in the burgeoning field of educational
politics is displayed over and over again in its futuristic projects and plans
based upon the movement in education from a public responsibility to a private
for-profit enterprise.
As Naomi Klein warned us in Shock Doctrine, private
enterprise looks for any opportunity in crisis or sudden change to establish an
adaptable revenue source for profit, and nothing was ever so financially fertile
as our “great national crisis” in education and the urgent need for political
remedies.
In fact, in some cases, student testing this next year will
double in order that some companies may “field test” the reliability of test
questions placed among other questions that will count toward the student’s,
teacher’s, and district’s performance ( http://www.parentvoicesny.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/10facts_HST.pdf
). Of course, no one has suggested that
such field-testing of minors without permission of parents might be considered an
inappropriate use of instructional time or even illegal; in short, this speaks
to the maddening acceptance of standards testing as a primary part of the
educational program in our school systems. Forget the comprehensive program or the
variability in region or child: nowadays all good schools should be able to
provide a similar sound and ready product measurably alike in specific skill
sets determined necessary for the workplace.
And, in fact, there are four large corporations ready and willing to
help us all in assessing who makes the grade and who doesn’t.
Harcourt Educational Measurement: London-based
developer of the SAT-9, and designer of tests that require passing before
graduation in several States. Standards
testing is now 70% of the company’s overall business ($5.6 billion annually in
revenue).
CTB McGraw Hill: New York based corporation that
developed TerraNova, a norm-referenced test.
Provides testing for 19 states in U.S. and achieves $4.2 billion in
revenues per annum..
Riverside Publishing: Developer of the Iowa Test
of Basic Skills, a norm-referenced test taken by 4-5 million students in the
U.S. Also a major publisher of texts for
at least eight states in the U.S. Parent
company was Houghton-Mifflin, acquired by Vivendi, Inc. in 2001 for $2.2 billion.
Pearson: The largest test scorer
internationally, and providing testing and scoring services in the largest
markets in the U.S., including New York, Texas, Florida. At this time, moving beyond just testing to other
aspects of education. Revenue = $9 billion in 2010 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html )
Pearson now has designs to change the way and manner in
which individuals achieve or receive GED’s, one which will become a profit-making
enterprise for the company
(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/collins-a-very-pricey-pineapple.html ). In addition, Pearson has promoted heavily the concept of CCSS (Common Core State Standards) and provided a national summit for educators and politicians in Orlando, Florida, to cement the implementation of services in the coming year(s) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html ). In fact, Pearson’s exemplary initiative to influence would-be parties has come under the scrutiny of the New York Attorney General, who questions the relationship between the $32 million contract to provide testing for NY schools and the “free trips” provided across the state to educational officials to visit places like London, Helsinki, Singapore, or even Rio de Janeiro. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html) And let’s not forget the current lobbyist for Pearson in Washington is the same fellow who helped Congress and Dubya draft legislation for the original NCLB. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/collins-a-very-pricey-pineapple.html?_r=2&). Estimates of lobby spending by Pearson on the state level reach nearly $3 million for 2009-2011 ( http://www.parentvoicesny.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/10facts_HST.pdf).
(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/collins-a-very-pricey-pineapple.html ). In addition, Pearson has promoted heavily the concept of CCSS (Common Core State Standards) and provided a national summit for educators and politicians in Orlando, Florida, to cement the implementation of services in the coming year(s) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html ). In fact, Pearson’s exemplary initiative to influence would-be parties has come under the scrutiny of the New York Attorney General, who questions the relationship between the $32 million contract to provide testing for NY schools and the “free trips” provided across the state to educational officials to visit places like London, Helsinki, Singapore, or even Rio de Janeiro. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html) And let’s not forget the current lobbyist for Pearson in Washington is the same fellow who helped Congress and Dubya draft legislation for the original NCLB. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/collins-a-very-pricey-pineapple.html?_r=2&). Estimates of lobby spending by Pearson on the state level reach nearly $3 million for 2009-2011 ( http://www.parentvoicesny.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/10facts_HST.pdf).
NICE BLOG!!! Education is the process of bringing desirable change into the behavior of human beings. It can also be defined as the “Process of imparting or acquiring knowledge or habits through instruction or study”. Thanks for sharing a nice information.
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