The Common Core Standards (CCSS) movement, which prepares students to be
work or college ready, is a facet of the P20 pipeline- the process of managing
education and outcomes of children from preschool through college, the
workforce, and perhaps beyond. This idea, however, is hardly new. Just think of
it as Human Capital Management 2.0. Yep. Human capital is a buzzword of the
CCSS and especially P20 pipeline, and it is synonymous with social efficiency.
Now, in the 21st century, we have metadata to track, plot, assess,
and manage every person’s every action if we wish…something we lacked with the
Human Capital Management 1.0 version, but have now with longitudinal data
systems in place.
I want to give a brief overview of Human Capital Management
1.0 , aka Social Efficiency, an essential tenet of the Progressive Era, circa
approximately 1890-1930. You can read up on Social Efficiency here http://3rseduc.blogspot.com/search?q=social+efficiency
but basically it is the scientific management of society to make a more
efficient, almost utopian society with everyone in their place, everything
running like a well-oiled machine. Author Joel Spring said it well; social efficiency educators was made up of an acceptance of a
collective society and a belief that an individual should be devoted to a
specialized task in society. An
educational pioneer, Elwood Cubberley, stated in his 1905 disseration, “schools were to be factories] "in which raw
products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products...
manufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come
from government and industry” This meant, for education, the advent
of IQ testing, SATs, and the backdrop for the standardized testing movement.
Add in a splash of eugenics, and the dream was to assess students, track them,
and find their perfect role in society. This often meant, at the time, that the
more inferior peoples such as blacks or women, were pigeonholed into an
education that denied them of classical education; no more algebra, philosophy,
Latin, Greek mythology….and instead an education to train them for the
workforce such as manual labor or homemaking. An educational pioneer, Elwood
Cubberley, stated in his 1905 dissertation, “schools
were to be factories] "in which raw products, children, are to be shaped
and formed into finished products... manufactured like nails, and the
specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry” Does this sound a little familiar,
or at least echo our fears of CCSS? It should.
I could go on and on about this but will instead just leave
you with a few websites and quotes to engage your mind; you can connect the
dots if you will.
“The standards
establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s
children for success in college and work”
and "With common
standards and assessments, students, parents, and teachers will have a clear,
consistent understanding of the skills necessary for students to succeed after
high school and compete with peers across the state line and across the
ocean." http://www.corestandards.org/articles/8-national-governors-association-and-state-education-chiefs-launch-common-state-academic-standards
“P-20 initiatives connect educational
systems for increased student performance, greater efficiency, improved
outcomes, and smoother pathways throughout a student's career. These factors
are of critical importance in a competitive global economy.
The Missouri Department of
Higher Education (MDHE) is working on several fronts to help ensure that
connections between early childhood, elementary and secondary education, and
higher education can create a more seamless pipeline for Missouri students. “….and….”MDHE is committed to
improving linkages between K-12 and higher education data systems to facilitate
data-driven decision-making. As the Missouri Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education (DESE) is transitioning to their unique-identifier,
unit-record student and teacher data system (MOSIS), both departments are
working to insure that MDHE's EMSAS data and DESE's MOSIS data will facilitate
appropriate and meaningful longitudinal data analysis on student performance
and teacher excellence.” …and….” MDHE's commitment to streamlining
educational systems across the P-20 spectrum extends to the formative education
and critical transitions in early childhood education. “ http://www.dhe.mo.gov/p20/ (each state reflects a similar mission)
“The Partnership for Assessment
of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of 22 states plus
the U.S. Virgin Islands working together to develop a common set of K-12
assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for
college and careers. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college
and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward
this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to
inform instruction and provide student support. The PARCC assessments will be
ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year.” http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc
“Online Assessment Roadmap 2014 to learn how using more innovative question types, online
delivery, automated and artificial-intelligence powered scoring engines, and
immediate web-based reporting of results can transform learning. This concrete
planning and implementation resource will help states and districts navigate
and mitigate the challenges of transitioning to online assessments. “http://commoncore.pearsoned.com/index.cfm?locator=PS11Uz
and, “Evidence-based
standard setting resources to understand and plan for how to shift use of
cut scores to track progress toward college and career readiness.” (Which links to a fascinating article full of
“gold” via the pearson ed site )http://www.pearsonassessments.com/hai/images/tmrs/Bulletin21_Evidence_Based_Standard_Setting.pdf
“This project, “Ho‘okele,” will develop a P20 statewide longitudinal
data system (P20 LDS) to track
individuals’ participation, progress and performance from early
childhood education to the workforce.1
The project will enable use of the longitudinal, inter-agency data to
improve educational and workforce
development outcomes, achieving Hawai‘i’s goal for human capital
development” … and…”The P20 LDS application proposes six major
outcomes representing a range of investments—human
capital, financial, technological, and institutional—to develop a
robust P20 LDS that supports improved
student outcomes and educational attainment. The outcomes include a
multi-state data exchange among
western states encompassing K-12, postsecondary and workforce
longitudinal data from Hawai‘i, Idaho and Oregon; the Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) will coordinate the “Multi-State Human Capital Development Data System.”” http://archive.jan2013.hawaii.gov/labor/wdc/P20LDS_HIApp_1209_execsum.pdf
I strongly encourage you to visit each referenced site and
explore all that is there; the drive for change and control of our children is
very overt and evident if you just do a little digging.
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