Greetings my fellow Anti Fed Ed Warriors! Let me jump right on today’s trail. (*Note: It’s a long and twisted one, so be sure to take your time discovering the map of evidence below.)
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Warriors, it’s NO secret that ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) meant to create a student data trail for their lives.
ESSA also creates a teacher/school staff data trail. Like the student’s, this trail is to followed for the duration of the teacher/school staff’s life.
All this data means billions of dollars for the CCSS Machine. However, it also means 100% control of your State, your school, and your life.
Trekkers and Trackers:
Warriors, I’ll illustrate the difference between a ‘trekker’ and a ‘tracker’. For the remainder of this article, the students, families, and Anti Fed Ed Warriors, will be our ‘trekkers’.
These ‘trekkers’ are setting out on an enjoyable journey. Backpacks filled with only the items absolutely essential to having a pleasant outing. Warriors, this is what we’d like to think our students get via education. It’s, after all, what most of us received as we went to schools across America.
Those folks and groups in line with the CCSS Machine and its global competency education alignment will be our ‘trackers’.
The ‘tracker’ above is not out for a pleasant journey, but rather a mission to gather as much data as possible to make money off innocent citizens. The CCSS Machine is a notorious ‘tracker’ in education. It doesn’t care if you enjoy your journey. It doesn’t provide quality education..it steals human dignity!
ESSA Hires Trackers for Our Trekkers:
Warriors, back when I was combing through the over 1,000 pages of the ESSA Final Conference Report (its identical law copy was shrunken to 391 pages),
I showed you the passages where ‘region specific’ education must be in place.
I also pointed out that whatever assessment your State used it had to accomplish 2 items.
A) Be aligned and assimilate easily with whatever student/teacher data had been collected from the previous 3 years; B) align and compliment any assessment used by neighboring States.
The U.S. Dept. of Education has fulfilled yet another ESSA mandate. It will require the ‘trackers’ to follow the ‘trekkers’ even more so than before.
You’ll see it below in the screen shot. Beginning on Page 151 of the ESSA law version, Section 2244 “Technical Assistance and National Evaluation”, you’ll see what group is to carry out the mandate and why.
(To access the Education Sciences Reform Act, go here.) Note that this Act was from 2002, during the Bush administration.
Also, note that the passage (above) states ‘at risk’ students. Warriors, under ESSA’s mental health and other assessments in ALL schools choices, especially home educated ones, ANY student labeled at risk for not being ‘college and career ready’ is to receive educational services to force them to become ‘ready’. So your ‘happy trekker’, now becomes ‘tracked’ in the system of alignment.
We know, Warriors, that the FERPA (Family Education Rights to Privacy Act) was gutted by an Obama Administration Executive Order which still stands.
So, the ‘bottom line’ is the massive amounts of ‘student/teacher data tracking’ set up can STILL be found in motion. The ‘tracking’ will continue via ESSA!
Meet The CC Network:
From the above passage of ESSA we can see a third party or the IES (Institute of Education Sciences) was to fulfill the regional tracking of our trekkers. The U.S. Dept. of Ed went with ‘third parties’…or did they?!
Warriors, the CC Network stands for “The Comprehensive Center Network”. The CCN, as I’ll call it, is part of Westat, Inc. Westat, Inc. From Westat, Inc. to your State, the ‘tracking’ is a winding trail of confusion.
(*Note: the Westat, Inc. link should show you how this group is tied to the OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; the NSF, National Science Foundation; and other CCSS global Machine member organizations.)
What’s more, Warriors, is that the 8 Content Centers are 100% ESSA mandates in real time..and it our faces! “Content” is a kinder word used to usher in things like early childhood education outcomes, standards and assessments, teacher training, school turnaround, college and career readiness, improving literacy, the building state productivity, and the innovation. All in ESSA, all federally controlled.
If you look at the CCN ‘formula’, it’s 1:23:15:8.
Every one of these is regional and totally divorces any local control you think your State truly can obtain with ESSA.
As far as the 15 regions CCN has the US broken into for education? They’re not any different than the CCR (College and Career Readiness Center’s) map or any other map depicting education. (*Note: CCR Center is part of AIR, Inc. American Institutes for Research, Inc. which also is a CCSS Machine tracker of your student’s data.)
What’s interesting about the CCN’s regional breakup is the CCSS Machine leaders your States will kowtow to.
For example, NC (where I live) is in the Southeast Region. NC, along with SC, GA, AL, and MS are under the thumb of AIR, Inc. (*Note: when you look at AIR’s CCR Centers, the goal is beefing up the ‘tracking’ of your ‘trekkers’ to the workforce readiness trail. ‘Trekkers’ don’t choose their trail, a test does.) What is one of the projects ‘my’ AIR, Inc. directed track is doing? Building up the data sharing between the 5 States.
Also under AIR, Inc, is the Great Lakes region (IN, MI, and OH). These States get more SEL (Social Emotional Learning) supports in and out of schools as well as 21st Century Workforce Readiness skills.
AIR, Inc. has the Midwest region, too. ESSA’s focus mandates for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin: CBE (Competency Based Education), more student/teacher data mining, and all that connects these.
Add to AIR, Inc.’s control the TX Center. For my Warriors, in TX, you’ll need to look into the five contractors also working with this Center AND the State Board of Education. Tons of rhetoric about ‘accountability’ and ‘supports’ were used.
My neighbors in TN, KY, VA, and WV are under the thumb of ICF International. Among their ESSA mandated requirements? Building a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) pipeline; using more personalized learning (trackers code for ‘student data rape’), and more.
Mid-Atlantic States (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and District of Columbia) are under WestEd’s thumb. Their ESSA mandates of focus? Increasing SEL (Social Emotional Learning) and increasing charter schools.
WestEd also has the West region (Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Bureau of Indian Education). This region is partnering with other regions on ‘school turnaround’ as well as more formative assessments and educator preparation.
California is like Texas, in that it is its own region. WestEd is also in control of CA. ESSA mandates most focused on in CA? English language learners, family engagement, and all supports which combine the two.
RMC Research is tracking the Northeast States of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. These States will be seeing more ‘talent pipeline’ education (aka workforce readiness), diversity training, and more.
Mixing the ESSA mandated control up a bit is the South Central region (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma). Their ‘tracker’? The University of Oklahoma! U of O will oversee more formative assessments, ESSA trained and aligned school principal pipelines and more. Univ. of OK will also be mandating ESSA for the Central US region. The States (Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri) can expect more control in college/career readiness, formative assessments (especially in the ‘cross-regional’ areas).
For the Northwest region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington), that CCSS Machine ‘tracker’ is Education Northwest. You’ll find ESSA focuses on dual enrollment, school improvement, and compliance to ESSA in rural areas.
The Pacific Region encompasses not only our US State of HI, but all the U.S. held Territories. American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Palau, Marshall Islands, and Federated States of Micronesia. Mandating ESSA in these locations is the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning. Lots of implementation for social studies, language, assessments, and more will be going on.
For FL and the Islands, ETS (Education Testing Services) will oversee ESSA for ‘trekkers’ in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Most focused mandates from ESSA for this region: CTE (Career Tech Education), Title 2 and 3 federal funding streams, and ‘personalized’ learning.
The North Central region of the US (Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) will be under the direction of Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning. Their ESSA focuses are monitoring communication in the States where education is concerned, creating achievement schools, and comprehensive schools.
Related Resources:
To see the Building State Capacity and Productivity’s publication on ESSA implementation, read it here. (*Note: look at the CCSS Machine member organizations contributing to this resource.)
To see the 8 Content Areas of the CCN’s and how their resources are controlling your States, find it here. (*Note: the resources rotate on a visual basis.)
From my archives, this true life account of an NC trekker and their family who were tracked by a Harvard University based program. You’ll see how AIR, Inc. and WestEd are also involved.
In 2016, I showed you what other data trackers were hiding behind the formative (and summative) assessments. ESSA will only increase this. Would you know what to look for?
Before ESSA, groups like WestEd and ICF International were already in on the education reform bandwagon. Especially for our youngest learners. See where they were then and then look on your own for where they are now.
Back in 2014, I showed you how Westat, Inc.; ETS (Educational Testing Service) and others were tied to the SBAC and PARCC as well as the NAEP.
Lastly, in 2014, I showed you the groups backing AIR’s CCR Regional centers. Warriors, the groups in those Centers are the VERY SAME ones in the CCN’s Regional Centers in 2018! Read it, then follow their trail.
Closing:
Warriors, I couldn’t write articles like this and connect dots for you if it were not for dedicated Anti Fed Ed Warriors, like my dear TN friend, Karen B. It was her eagle eye which spotted her State’s CCN participation.
Warriors, you’ll also need to ‘track’ the ‘trackers’ (who are tracking your ‘trekkers’) via the CCN’s State Projects list. While I pointed out major focuses of ESSA in each Region, these are NOT the only focuses you should look for. Nor, will these focuses be the only ones from ESSA your Regions will participate in. Remember, ESSA stands for ‘Every Student Succeeds Act’.
Every State will also have to comply in order for the students to succeed as directed by the CCSS Machine. In other words, every trekker to be tracked for someone else’s gain.
