Common Core

I work for an educational software company.  Common Core is a big deal around here.  I wanted to dispel a few myths that directly apply to my personal work:

"Increased data collection.. why the obsession with data?"
-- Yes, we are all about data.  The software allows the collection and subsequent analysis of a ton of data.  Is this an invasive affront to privacy?  Are we gonna sell this data or let people who dont need it see it?  No!  We have security and we dont sell data to marketers.  We allow teachers, nurses,  administrators to get reports on this data in order to help the students.  Collecting this data is nothing new in schools.  Being able to actually categorize it and build reports on it and actually use it for something positive is new.  How is this bad?  Now we can easily make sure everybody who needs to know about a kids obscure food allergy knows about it, or that his online assessment testing shows a particular spike in one subject area that nobody would otherwise have noticed.

"Its expensive and directs money at evil special interests like e-book and computer companies"
--  Um, yeah, because its the 20th century and we have computers and e-books now.  Hey does anybody know how much a regular textbook costs?  And how often do they update them?  Does anybody really want to keep using Scantron sheets and filling in bubbles for testing?  It may cost more upfront, but with computer based assessment testing teachers can modify tests easily and create better tests for kids.  And e-books can be updated constantly instead of once every few years.  For less $.  A lot less.  An ebook reader can cost less than a single textbook and hold a hundred books updated constantly.  And this is bad?

"Nationalized testing is bad"
--  Really?  We already test kids.  Problem is, there's no standard.  Kids from one state can move to another state and be behind in school because of different standards.  This is a matter of national pride and should be a patriotic issue.  As an American I'd like to know that we as a country have minimum standards for our people.  If you have an issue with testing, that's one thing.  But we already test kids, we have to measure their progress somehow, why not have a national minimum standard?

I could go on and on but I'll stop now.  I have to work on some software that lets teachers and nurses collect a ton of personal data on kids.  No, really.  And I'm proud of my work.