Although Common Core pundits screech that data collection is not part of Common Core, it is. If you read Common Core material and pay attention to the mandates being pushed onto the states as conditions of receiving federal funding (otherwise known as bullying “Do what I want or I’ll make things miserable for you…), you realized it’s all part of one big, rotten package tied with the Common Core bow.
Here is what InBloom has to say about data collection and education:
“There is a consensus that personalized learning is the way to go,” said InBloom CEO Iwan Streichenberger. “The big question is, how to do you make it happen? How do you share data and make it accessible? We’re a catalyst — a connector between data that exists already to make it easier to access.”
InBloom stores the data and provides integration tools and services to allow schools, districts, states and other vendors to aggregate student data from Student Information Systems, testing vendors and other sources. It also helps educators find instructional content aligned with certain standards so they can match it to their students’ needs.”
InBloom makes it “easier” for other companies to access our student’s data to develop applications, textbooks, professional development, and other products that will make them money–bottom line.
Colorado has decided that enough is enough.
On the heels of the Jefferson County School Board severing ties with InBloom and Bill Gates, bringing to a screeching halt the piloting of the intrusive longitudinal data system associated with Common Core, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) announced on Wednesday that InBloom and Bill Gates need to go home.
When CDE Commissioner Robert Hammond’s statement was read at the public CDE meeting Wednesday afternoon, cheers and clapping erupted in the room. Parent warriors, who came prepared to speak publicly against the program, were elated but surprised.
Just Monday, Commissioner Hammond stated that opposition to the data tracking system was an issue for the federal government not him, dampening hopes that the state would follow suit with Jefferson County’s bold move. In a meeting later that day, however, the two school board members who were replaced by Jefferson County voters just a week ago, paid a visit to Hammond, handing him irrefutable evidence that this was, in fact, very bad for our state’s education system. According to Rachael Stickland, who was the lead parent warrior in ousting InBloom from Jefferson County, outgoing board member Laura Boggs told him that the state “needed to get their act together” and that parents were organized, informed and determined. Apparently, this got Commission Hammond’s attention, for two days later, he issued his formal statement breaking the contract with InBloom and acknowledging that privacy concerns of Colorado citizens need to be addressed.
Colorado residents spoke with authority several times in recent months, with the recall of two heavy gun-control advocates elected to the state legislature and the defeat of the proposed education tax measure, Amendment 66. It appears Colorado government is taking the state’s residents seriously.