Tag: pearson

  • New York City Approves New Contract for Specialized High School Test

    According to the D.O.E., approximately 30,000 eighth graders and 5,000 ninth graders take the test each year. Major racial gaps have persisted in the admissions process, with 12 percent of spots last year offered to Black and Latino students — the highest number since 2013 and up from 10 percent the year before.

    The meeting agenda for Wednesday night acknowledged that the D.O.E. was aware of 19 investigations into Pearson for workplace discrimination but said that 16 of those cases had been closed or dismissed.

    But the department did not address a string of issues involving Pearson’s testing over the years. Testing errors led the New York State Education Department to end its contract with Pearson in 2015.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/nyregion/specialized-high-school-test-new-york.html

  • The NYC school system must reject this contract

    • In 2012, the NYS state exam produced by Pearson featured more than 30 errors, with faulty questions and problems with translation and scoring. One of the reading passages was so ludicrous it was featured on John Oliver.
    • In 2013,  Pearson’s state exams featured crass, commercial product placements as well as reading passages lifted from Pearson textbooks. According to Kathleen Porter Magee of the conservative Fordham Institute, Pearson was abusing its monopoly power in a way that “threatens the validity of the English Language Arts (ELA) scores for thousands of New York students and raises serious questions about the overlap between Pearson’s curriculum and assessment divisions.”
    • The Pearson Charitable Foundation paid a $7.7 million fine after the state attorney general found they had broken state laws. The company also had to pay $75 million in damages plus costs to settle a lawsuit over price-fixing.
    • Pearson was found to have made mistakes in scoring the NYC Gifted and Talented tests. Not once, but twice.
    • In 2015, it was discovered that Pearson was monitoring the social media of students who criticized their NJ state exams.
    • In 2018, Pearson’s lax security practices led to one of the largest student data breaches in history, involving probably millions of students, including many in New York. The FBI alerted Pearson to the breach in March 2019, but they didn’t tell anyone, including the schools or the students until months later. Eventually, Pearson was fined $1 million by the SEC for misleading investors about the breach.
    • Altogether, Pearson has been subjected to dozens of investigations for discrimination against its employees on grounds of race, disability, gender, age, etc.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/18/the-nyc-school-system-must-reject-this-contract/

  • Push to digitize NYC entrance exam for specialized high schools reignites equity debate

    n panel documents, it reported receiving two bids during a request for proposals from Pearson, which has historically provided the exam, or a competitor, Educational Testing Services. After negotiating the contract down with Pearson, education officials said the cost of their product was 19% lower than switching vendors, and urged panel members to vote it through.

    “This would be the sole means of providing an exam,” First Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg told the panel on Wednesday night at its monthly meeting, the second consecutive forum where the test was included but later removed from the agenda. “So if we don’t have this contract in place, the current contract will expire. There will be no contract of paper and pencil to continue.”

    The tests will continue to be administered in school for eighth graders, with weekend testing available for ninth graders and students from private, religious and charter schools at central locations, according to education officials. Paper versions would remain available for students with disabilities who need accommodations. The changes would go into effect next fall.

    In a statement, State Sen. John Liu (D-Queens), the chair of the upper chamber’s committee on New York City education, reiterated state law requires the exam for admission to specialized high schools, with no indication that he would push for changes in Albany.

    “While the single test is not perfect, it is still the most objective assessment for admission to these specialized high schools,” Liu told The News.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/11/23/push-to-digitize-nyc-entrance-exam-for-specialized-high-schools-reignites-equity-debate/