In a recent email and webinar, Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) asserted that
“At this time, we have not seen any evidence that the redesigned SAT will harm homeschoolers in any way.”
Is that a valid statement? Simply by looking at the documentation provided on the Common Core website written by HSLDA, the answer is clearly NO. Common Core and the P-20 machine harms all students no matter where they are educated.
In their FAQ, Question #7 asks, “Will the common core affect homeschools and private schools.”
“The current impact of the Common Core on home and private education is revealed in the expanding state longitudinal databases, shifting college admissions expectations, newly updated curricula, and revised standardized tests. All these are fulfilling education historian Diane Ravitch’s prediction that “no one will escape [the Common Core’s] reach, whether they attend public or private school.”2….
…Perhaps the most immediate threat to homeschool and private school students is the expansion of statewide longitudinal databases. The designers of the new systems fully intend for homeschool and private school students to be part of the massive data collection. At the National Conference on Student Assessment in 2011, officials from Oklahoma explained to CCSSO how the challenge of meeting the data requirements of federal and state education policies are motivating them to “Include student groups not now included (e.g., home-schooled) in the data system.”3
In light of the growing revelations that the government is engaging in massive invasion of privacy in spheres other than education, it is utterly impossible to believe that these databases will not be mined and misused to serve the ulterior purposes of a centralized government intent on growing its own power.”
The harm to public schools is seen in curricula and data tracking. The problem is those pesky homeschoolers won’t cooperate! As freedom loving homeschoolers, we don’t see the value of being in a P-20 cradle to career data tracking system. But all learns must be in the P-20 machine.
So somehow they are going to have to manipulate homeschoolers into joining the machine. How do they do that? Easy peasy. All Coleman has to is find a credible source that homeschoolers trust to tell us there’s no harm in taking the test.
What is tested is what is taught, what is taught is what is thought. And as an added bonus they get data on homeschoolers that so they so desperately want.
So Coleman, who already enjoyed a cordial relationship with HSLDA, showed them just enough “evidence” that the content of the SAT is not harmful and together they produce a webinar to preach the good news to the masses.”At this time, we have not seen any evidence that the redesigned SAT will harm homeschoolers in any way.”
Voila’ homeschoolers will fall in line and take the test and by default put into the system. And that’s exactly what happened.
After listening to Coleman, one homeschool blogger wrote,
“First of all, I’m hopeful that Mr. Coleman is honest and forthright about his claims with regard to the new SAT and its independence from Common Core. Assuming this, I think many home educators should breathe a sigh of relief about changes to the SAT. If you are focused on establishing a good foundation for your students in math, reading and writing, then your student should be well-prepared for the SAT. “
Mission accomplished.
Once the homeschoolers are lured back into the system, College Board can do whatever it wants with the content. HSLDA knows this,
The alignment of standardized tests with the Common Core may not seem alarming, because homeschool students consistently score much higher on standardized assessments than public school students. However, as information about the content of newly designed curriculum begins to surface, it is becoming clear that the Common Core’s focus on informational texts makes it easy to accentuate particular schools of thought. For example, English language arts curriculum in Utah inculcates the welfare-state mentality and characterizes a parent’s directions as “nagging.”13 Students taking the SAT, ACT, or the Iowa Tests could soon encounter progressive ideologies including social engineering and alternative lifestyles.
But hey, HSLDA says there’s nothing progressive in the evidence they’ve seen so go ahead and take the test, get your kids data in the system, and help build the machine. But remember, once the P-20 cradle to career machine is built there is no going back to parental control and educational freedom.
Coleman said he didn’t want to rile up homeschoolers. Convincing HSLDA is just the way to do it. But I’m going to do my best to make sure we are riled up and I hope HSLDA will join me in the fight instead of promoting Coleman’s propaganda.
The evidence is clear. Don’t be fooled, the current and future harm to all learners is great. Fight on! Don’t help build their machine, destroy it!
Related Post:
HSLDA’s “cobelligerency” with the David Coleman