Monday, May 13, 2013

More on Pearson's incompetence; and a Pearson protest rally on May 23

So yes, Pearson made yet more errors in scoring the Gifted and Talented exams; caught again by a NYC parent and announced late on Friday. 
I was quoted in the Daily News saying given Pearson's perpetual incompetence, DOE should immediately cancel its contract and Walcott said he would "consider" this.  (For more on the Pearson errors, see Post, Times, , NY1, SchoolBook, WSJ).  

This is on top of all the other problems in the 3-8th grade state exams designed by Pearson exams year.  And of course, the Pineapple question last year

Yet the reality is that Pearson has 18 current contracts with DOE, which are downloadable at the Clearview webpage on the Comptroller's website.  These contracts include the exam for admission to the specialized science high schools, which has never been independently vetted for validity or lack of racial bias. 

 How many errors has Pearson made in the design and scoring of this exam, which has had a hugely disparate effect in terms of the number of minority students admitted to our most elite high schools?

Here is a petition you can sign against Pearson.  Also, please come to a rally May 23 at noon, the Hoboken ferry, to protest the millions in tax subsidies for Pearson, while NJ cuts education and social services. 

The rally will be held at the site of the future Pearson corporate offices, at a cost to the state of over $60 million in subsidies!  Here is a flyer.
 

1 comment:

  1. It would be interesting to know how many jobs Pearson has shed on the editorial and/or testing side in NY/NJ area.

    They are a "leader" in outsourcing, especially to places like the Philippines...


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