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Let me just quickly introduce you to Lev Vogystky, the\u00a0\u201cfather of\u00a0Soviet psychology<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 He believed the value of an individual came not from the individual themselves but rather the individual\u2019s place in society.<\/p>\n As\u00a0an individual only exists as a social being<\/strong>, as a member of some social group within whose context he follows the road of his historical development, the\u00a0composition of his personality and the structure of his behaviour turn out to be a quantity which is dependent on social evolution<\/strong>\u00a0and whose main aspects are determined by the latter. Already in primitive societies, which are only just taking their first steps along the road of their historical development,\u00a0the entire psychological makeup of individuals can be seen to depend directly on the development of technology, the degree of development of the production forces and on the structure of that social group to which the individual belongs.<\/strong>\u00a0Research in the field of ethnic psychology has provided incontrovertible proof that both of these factors, whose intrinsic interdependence has been established by the theory of\u00a0historical materialism, are the decisive factors of the whole psychology of primitive man<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong>\u201d Vygotsky, L. 1930: Socialisticheskaja peredelka cheloveka. VARNITSO, the journal of the\u00a0All-Union Association of Workers in Science and Technics for the Furthering of the Socialist Edification in the USSR<\/a>\u00a0 (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While serving the Soviet government Vogystky and his team developed\u00a0psychometric testing<\/em>\u00a0for young children.<\/p>\n What\u00a0are\u00a0psychometrics<\/em>?<\/p>\n Psychometrics<\/b>\u00a0is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of\u00a0psychological<\/a>\u00a0measurement<\/a>, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes,\u00a0personality<\/a>\u00a0traits, and\u00a0educational measurement<\/a>. The field is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments such as\u00a0questionnaires<\/a>,\u00a0tests<\/a>, and personality assessments.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In other words, what are you good at, where are your strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n Today these tests are\u00a0mainly<\/a>\u00a0used in the corporate world to find where an individual would best fit in a companies structure.\u00a0 Back in Lev\u2019s day\u00a0these tests were used to see where \u00a0a child would serve within the state.\u00a0 It looks like we\u2019re about to go back to their original intent.<\/p>\n Linda Darling-Hammond<\/a>, good friend of Bill Ayers, is a follower of Vogystosky.\u00a0 She is also a\u00a0senior\u00a0research advisor\u00a0<\/a>for the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium \u00a0(SBAC).\u00a0 Her philosophies on\u00a0education are found throughout SBAC.<\/p>\n As you research the SBAC you find a lot of\u00a0disturbing references to psychometrics.\u00a0 They don\u2019t even attempt to hide it.<\/p>\n In Idaho\u2019s MOU with SBAC page 4\u00a0(attachment 6<\/a>) we find psychometric data.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are just\u00a0a few\u00a0of the other\u00a0SBAC documents that\u00a0talk about psychometric data:<\/p>\n There\u2019s a\u00a0workgroup<\/a>\u00a0dedicated to validation and psychometrics\/test design. SBAC\u00a0even has a\u00a0psychometrician<\/a>\u00a0on staff.<\/p>\n Just\u00a0google<\/a>\u00a0SBAC and psychometrics and\u00a0you\u2019ll find pages of information.<\/p>\n What does all of this mean to you and\u00a0your child?<\/p>\n The SBAC tests\u00a0(the tests\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0children will be taking here in Idaho next month) are not just a measure of your child\u2019s knowledge, it goes far beyond that.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019re headed toward an education system that quickly funnels our children into workforce training in a specific field at a young age.\u00a0 They are no longer students being taught how to learn.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t going to be time to give them a broad, liberal-arts education.\u00a0 They won\u2019t have time to explore and expand on what they find\u00a0fascinating or inspiring.\u00a0\u00a0Instead they are a gear in a larger machine,\u00a0 important only\u00a0for the tasks they can\u00a0perform.<\/p>\n This is one reason organizations like the Chamber of Commerce support Common Core.\u00a0 If\u00a0the education system provides workforce training\u00a0businesses no longer have to pay for it.\u00a0 (Don\u2019t get me wrong, I think every child who graduates from high school should be able to count back change at McDonald\u2019s\u2026)<\/p>\n This is\u00a0Marc Tucker\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0dream.\u00a0 No longer will we be a \u201cmessy\u201d society where competition in the job market pushes individuals to know more, be better and work harder.\u00a0 Instead, we will become orderly, organized human capital, ready and waiting to perform whatever task for which\u00a0a test in the eight-grade told us we had an aptitude.<\/p>\n My sister had a friend\u00a0who grew up in\u00a0the\u00a0Czech Republic\u00a0<\/a>during the days of the Soviet Union.\u00a0 In the eighth-grade\u00a0she was given a test.\u00a0 The test determined she would be a good doctor or engineer.\u00a0 Those were her choices for life.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 Is this sounding familiar?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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