CONTROLLING & MONITIZING TEXAS EDUCATION SUPPORTS CORPORATE DESIRES WITH UNCERTAIN STUDENT RESULTS

CONTROLLING & MONITIZING TEXAS EDUCATION SUPPORTS CORPORATE DESIRES WITH UNCERTAIN STUDENT RESULTS

Schools spend billions on technology, even as they lay off teachers, with little proof it improves basic learning
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas study, based upon four years of solid research, found that when it comes to students immersion in technology and their academic achievement, “there was no evidence linking technology immersion with student self-directed learning or their general satisfaction with schoolwork.” And the New York Times has reported on the use of technology in Arizona classrooms, where,

“The digital push aims to go far beyond gadgets to transform the very nature of the classroom.”
And as the Times has reported, “Schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning.”
The August 31, 2016 issue of Time Magazine carried an article by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras called “Screens In Schools Are a $60 Billion Hoax.” In this article, he argues that putting children in front of digital devices is bad learning strategy which has known deleterious health effects.
The quoted comments below outline some of these health problems and provides a powerful and diverse set of linked references supporting his arguments.

Tech in the classroom not only leads to worse educational outcomes for kids, which I will explain shortly, it can also clinically hurt them.

“I’ve worked with over a thousand teens in the past 15 years, and have observed that students who have been raised on a high-tech diet not only appear to struggle more with attention and focus, but also seem to suffer from an adolescent malaise that appears to be a direct byproduct of their digital immersion.

“Indeed, over two hundred peer-reviewed studies point to screen time correlating to increased ADHD, screen addiction, increased aggression, depression, anxiety and even psychosis.”

High school mathematics & physics (regular, Honors and AP) teacher Thomas Ultican this points out, extensively in the article below, the onslaught states like Texas now face as they attempt to improve education results within a growing and vastly divergent student population. Ultican begins,

“Every year, school districts in San Diego County, California are wasting $10’s of millions on technology. This spending binge harms education and is difficult for school boards to oppose. Worst of all children and good pedagogy are being harmed.”

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Promotes Technology over Good Pedagogy

When Congress passed the new education Every Student Succeeds Act law (ESSA), the United States Department of Education was transformed into the nation’s leading education technology sales force. President Barack Obama’s Education Secretary John King has effectively become a shill for a group of corporations and their “non-profit” foundations working to sell:

1.Blended Learning
2.Competency-Based Education
3.Personalized Learning
4.Project-Based Learning
4.Collaborative Learning
5.Linked Learning. etc.
These initiatives have at least four things in common:

They all profit technology companies
They all are unproven
They all promote unhealthy education practices, and
They overturn a student’s right to privacy
The former governor of West Virginia, Bob Wise, has been leading the Alliance for Excellent Education since 2005. On their web presence the Alliance lists this group of supporters:

Anonymous
AT&T Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
GE Foundation
National Public Education Support Fund
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
State Farm
Stuart Foundation
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and more
For unknown reasons, the biggest dollars appear to come from anonymous. This foundation is just one example, there are hundreds of non-profits like this supported by many of these same groups. They sound well-intentioned, but their main motive is monetizing and controlling education in a way that supports corporate desires.
Bob Wise’s organization sponsors Future Ready which says, “The Alliance for Excellent Education leads Future Ready in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and a vast coalition of both national and regional organizations.”
Pictured below are 3 of the 12 rows of sponsors advertised on their web site. It is disturbing that the two major teachers’ unions, American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are there, along with the national PTA.