Why Be Concerned About Common Core Data Mining? Orwell, Kafka and the CCSSO.

If Common Core reading lists truly want to create "critical thinkers", maybe Orwell's 1984 and Kafka's The Digital Person should be required reading.  Students could compare/contrast the two authors' views on privacy.  From the Atlantic and Why Should We Even Care If the Government Is Collecting Our Data?:

As people have tried to make sense of the recent revelations about the government's mass data-collection efforts, one classic text is experiencing a spike in popularity: George Orwell's 1984 has seen a 7,000 percent increase in sales over the last 24 hours.*

But wait! This is the wrong piece of literature for understanding the NSA's programs, argues legal scholar Daniel J. Solove. In his book, The Digital Person, Solove writes that the troubles with the collection of massive amounts of personal data in databases are distinct from those of government surveillance, the latter being the focus of 1984. He summed up his argument in a later paper (emphasis added):

Many commentators had been using the metaphor of George Orwell's 1984 to describe the problems created by the collection and use of personal data. I contended that the Orwell metaphor, which focuses on the harms of surveillance (such as inhibition and social control) might be apt to describe law enforcement's monitoring of citizens. But much of the data gathered in computer databases is not particularly sensitive, such as one's race, birth date, gender, address, or marital status. Many people do not care about concealing the hotels they stay at, the cars they own or rent, or the kind of beverages they drink. People often do not take many steps to keep such information secret. Frequently, though not always, people's activities would not be inhibited if others knew this information.

I suggested a different metaphor to capture the problems: Franz Kafka's The Trial, which depicts a bureaucracy with inscrutable purposes that uses people's information to make important decisions about them, yet denies the people the ability to participate in how their information is used. The problems captured by the Kafka metaphor are of a different sort than the problems caused by surveillance. They often do not result in inhibition or chilling. Instead, they are problems of information processing--the storage, use, or analysis of data--rather than information collection. They affect the power relationships between people and the institutions of the modern state. They not only frustrate the individual by creating a sense of helplessness and powerlessness, but they also affect social structure by altering the kind of relationships people have with the institutions that make important decisions about their lives.

 Solove writes how this data gathering is disturbing to many people because of the power imbalance and the lack of people's knowledge of where their data is going and how it is being used:

...why then are the NSA's programs troubling? It's not so much in the collection of the data per se (the surveillance part) but the holding and processing of that data in perpetuity. As Solove writes (emphasis added):

The NSA program involves a massive database of information that individuals cannot access. Indeed, the very existence of the program was kept secret for years. This kind of information processing, which forbids people's knowledge or involvement, resembles in some ways a kind of due process problem. It is a structural problem involving the way people are treated by government institutions. Moreover, it creates a power imbalance between individuals and the government. To what extent should the Executive Branch and an agency such as the NSA, which is relatively insulated from the political process and public accountability, have a significant power over citizens? This issue is not about whether the information gathered is something people want to hide, but rather about the power and the structure of government.

A message to Common Core opponents concerned about data retrieval: determine a strategy to combat the storage and type of data retrieval currently being done and planned for the future.  Data mining is here to stay and most Americans accept that premise.  The storage, how the data is used  and who controls the data are the primary concerns for the majority of people.  Aggregate data mining for educational planning may not be a bad practice, however, the individual data mining and use of that individualized information is the issue to address.

What do you think the chances are of either one of these authors making a Common Core resource list?  Here's what I got when I searched for that question:

Common Core Resources - Council of Chief State School Officers

www.ccsso.org/documents/2012/common_core_resources.pdfShare

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Date: January 30, 2013. 1. CCSSO developed this list of free tools and resources to support educators during the process of Common Core State Standards ...

More results for orwell and kafka and common core resources

Orwell and Kafka apparently didn't make the cut.

Should Parents be the Target Group for Polar Bracelets? Forget the Students, It's the Parents who Need to be Tracked.

Keep your eyes looking southward for educational reforms heading Missouri's way.  Many of the reforms being instituted in Florida are being brought up via bills in our legislature such as the expansion of charter schools, virtual schools, tax credits, etc.  

Will Missouri see a parental bill here that is being introduced in Florida grading parental accountability for their children in public schools?  Here's a recap of Florida HB543 relating to parental involvement and accountability in public schools:

HB 543: Parental Involvement and Accountability in the Public Schools

 GENERAL BILL by Stargel; (CO-INTRODUCER) Hager

Parental Involvement and Accountability in the Public Schools; Specifies purpose to provide information & tools to parents of preK-5 students & to set minimum standards for parental involvement; specifies causes for student underachievement; requires prek-5 teachers to evaluate parental involvement & send evaluation to parents under certain circumstances; requires dispute process; requires certain reporting. 

Here's a bit of history on this bill from a Florida educational activist who has been following Florida education for the last several years:

This bill was introduced last session and failed. The bill requires schools to provide a handbook, get a signature and receipt, issue grades on parents quarterly, and report the "evaluation data" to the FL DOE. The data will also go to the Governor and legislature.

The legislative analysis indicates that the cost impact on schools is "indeterminate." It states there will be costs to publish the handbook, grade, and collect/report data.

The legislative analysis says the "evaluation data" will become a part of the student's permanent record and be confidential following FERPA guidelines.

So now parents (move over, teachers) are held accountable via data for student achievement or lack thereof?  Parents who are utilizing a public service to benefit their children would now be mandated to participate in an accountability exercise themselves.   The data will be entered into the child's record and promised confidentiality even as these records are shared with various federal agencies and private research entities.

On its face, it sounds fabulous!  Get those parents involved!  Get them to CARE about their child's education.  Get parents to care by mandating parental behavior.  

Do you see the fallacy in that last sentence?  The government or anyone cannot mandate CARING for any human being.  Either a parent is going to be a committed parent, or not.  And whose definition of caring is the legislature going to ascribe to? 

• By signing forms?  
• By showing up to conferences?  
• By requiring reading to children at home?  
• By feeding them the right foods determined by the government?
• By volunteering in the schools? 
• By agreeing with all the teachings from the school, including a national sex ed curriculum? 

The bill is vague in setting specifications. This wording is particularly intriguing... specifies causes for student underachievement.  In theory, a kindergarten teacher can determine why a child is failing, and it may not be because of faulty teaching, or curriculum or that the school is not fulfilling the needs of the child; it could quite possibly be because the parents are not deemed to be appropriate for the child's achievement by the kindergarten teacher.

If this bill in Florida passes, not only will a public school have the access to you and your child's personal data to share with various federal agencies and private organizations without your active permission, you, as a parent will have to "pass the test" crafted by the state to determine if you are a "good" parent or a "bad" parent.


Watch for this bill to be introduced at some point in Missouri.  California and Alaska have laws fining parents if children are in gangs or have excessive absences.  There is a bill pending in South Carolina requiring parents to volunteer in their school.

Maybe the states and districts will jump on the bandwagon for the Polar monitors after all for the parents to wear. It would help if the polar bracelet had a webcam on it so you document what the parents are doing at home to ensure a child's success.  Think of it as reality television.  Now the school can document what a parent is providing the child...or not providing the child.  That could be rather subjective, right?  It is correct that much of the problem starts in the home, but there are other issues, like providing intact families....but the government can't mandate that either...yet.