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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: In Pearson we trust. Really? But our blood is never blue.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: In Pearson we trust. Really? But our blood is never blue.:


In Pearson we trust. Really? But our blood is never blue.

Remember back in April, when a single insipid test question sparked thepineapple rebellion and shone a light, not only on current standardized testing practices, but on the whole testing industry and its leading profiteer, Pearson Publishing? With lives, careers and the very existence of schools hanging in the balance, we have become totally reliant on Pearson and the testing companies to measure and arbitrate truth and correctness. Even more so, with the era of the Common Core curriculum at hand. But what happens when Pearson is wrong -- either in the content of their texts or in the proscribed answers on their tests?

Check out this exchange between Chicago Science/Math Teacher Oscar Newman and Pearson.
November 17, 2012 
To Whom It May Concern, 
My school recently purchased Pearson's Interactive Science for our middle school students (6-8 Grades). While preparing for a lesson, I happened upon the following quote, from the Interactive Physical Science book 1 TE, p.119 Under "Science and Society": "The influx of oxygen changes blood's color from blue to red...Have students examine their arms to see if they have any blue