DATA MINING OUR CHILDREN |
data mining students through common core |
One of the most disturbing aspects of Common Core is the unprecedented tracking and monitoring of our children that it has swept in. With the adoption of Common Core came the full implementaion of the Statewide Longitudinal Database System (SLDS) which is a national database that links ALL 50 states together so that it is possible to share YOUR child's information with private vendors AND ANYONE who has access to this system across state lines, usurping any state specific privacy laws that may be in place!
If you'd like to know what information is being collected, when the school's begin collecting it, and how long they collect your child's information, then keep your eyes glued to this page! The information being collected, referred to as Personal Identifiable Information, or PII, includes, but is not limited to your child's, name, age, social security number, blood sample, hand writing sample, finger prints, religious affiliation, discipline problems, family wealth indicators, political leanings, iris patterns, extra curricular information, facial characteristics, and even how much work your child does on the weekends (see the new Chromebook that schools across the nation are handing out to students!!). This data collection begins as soon as you enroll your child in Pre school and will continue through the age of 20! This data collection is called P-20 and is designed to track your child from pre- school to work force. SCARY! _ Even more bothersome is what is currently being researched, developed and tested. These are new high tech ways to gather both physical and biometric data on our children. There are many different ways they are gathering data and using it to evaluate the responses of students and to evaluate teachers. For example, there is a facial recognition software called Engagesense, that utilizes alogrithms to interpret children's reactions to lessons being taught. They record their facial expressions to figure out how engaged the students are. Then there are the Q Sensors! The Q Sensors are bracelets designed to measure the children's emotional response to what they are learning! The Gates Foudation, which has sunk millions of dollars into the research and development of this product, hopes to see these bracelets being used as common classroom tools. Perhaps one of the more invasive data mining procedures is that of predictive analysis. Predictive analysis makes predictions based on data from a students own academic performance as well as data from other students who have taken a class to "predict" the potential outcome of a students success in a particular class. This has the potential for abuse written all over it. In many colleges, predictive analysis is currently in use and these schools can suggest course work for students. There is no way to guarantee that in the future students will not be forced into classes because of this method. Along the lines of predictive anyalysis, the National Center on Education and Economy, in a 2007 report titled, "Tough Choices or Tough Times" recommends that high school sophmores take a "board exam" that would deem them "College Ready" or "Career Ready", in 10th grade!! Separating students into two catagories: those who stay in school and take AP courses to advance to college and those who leave and go into community colleges to prepare for the workOne examination to make a determination for their entire futures when they are just 15-16 years old??!!?? To further the notion that assesments are the decisive factor in your childs future, I would like to introduce you to Jose Ferriera, CEO of Knewton, an Educational technology company that specializes in predicitive analysis. At the Datapalooza Conference at the White House, hosted by the Department of Education last year, Mr. Ferriera, enthusiastically shares with us his vision of the future. He envisions a world where he is collecting between 5 and 10 million data points per student per day! Yes, you read that right. Please, see below to watch his presentation from the Datapalooza that day. |
"So far, nine states across the country have already agreed to adopt the data mining process, with parents having no say in this decision. Schools in New York, Delaware, Colorado, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina have committed to “pilot testing” and information dissemination via sending students’ personal information to a database managed by inBloom, Inc., a private organization funded largely by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." Read More
PARCC field tests had major data security flaws and of course they knew all about it
The Common Core testing company, PARCC , knew it had major data security flaws in its computer-based field tests, administered by Pearson Testing this past spring to over 1 million students in 14 states, but they went ahead with the field test anyway. - See more at: http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2014/06/16/parcc-field-tests-had-major-data-security-flaws-and-of-course-they-knew-all-about-it/#sthash.0SCUP9Ma.dpuf
common core and data collectionCommon Core & Data Collection Filed in Privacy/SLDS by Jane Robbins on April 7, 2014 • 3 Comments
"A particularly troubling aspect of the Common Core scheme is the emphasis on massive data-collection on students, and the sharing of that data for various purposes essentially unrelated to genuine education. U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said: 'Hopefully, some day, we can track children from preschool to high school and from high school to college and college to career . . . . We want to see more states build comprehensive systems that track students from pre-K through college and then link school data to workforce data. We want to know know whether Johnny participated in an early learning program and then completed college on time and whether those things have any bearing on his earnings as an adult.' " Read more HERE |