| Marjorie Scardino's husband Albert Scardino By Peyton Wolcott Sat., Sept. 1, 2007 - 1:00 am |
| H o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n -- o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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| C o n s e r v a t i v e C o m m e n t a r y - Akin Gump / Pearson |
| Our public schools are essentially socialist models and their engine and currency is the realm of emotions and people skills. |
| (L) Former Iowa principal, (R) Former Bremond TX supe |
| THE BIG PICTURE |
| Public Records |
| Sentencing |
| Bremond ISD |
| Practical steps: How to Organize 95 Questions How to ask for public records |
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| HEADS UP |
| AKIN GUMP / PEARSON Just who is this British company Pearson? And why should they be getting so rich off the backs of our public schoolchildren--and taxpayers? By Peyton Wolcott Updated Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 - Noon |
| Education lobbying: The place where education-related Big Business -- what Scott Parks of the Dallas Morning News calls the "Education-Industrial Complex" -- coincides with our highest and best dreams for our schoolchildren and the future of our great Republic. And few if any members of the Education-Industrial Complex have quite the impact or rapid recent expansion of UK-based NCS Pearson, |
| Akin DC |
| Akin TX |
| 95Questions |
| Akin / Areva / Libya |
| D.Garner |
| Please don't get me wrong; I'm a free-market pro-business kind of girl, and am all for anyone and everyone legally here, men and women alike, pursuing the American dream with as much gusto and integrity as they can generate. Why I'm taking exception to Pearson and Marjorie Scardino is the same reason I take exception to other education vendors and executives who are doing way more business with our school districts than our children need in order to get a good basic education. properly answer this question, we first have to look at the many companies which comprise Pearson today. Pearson: The new British Empire Trying to regain America? Bigger and bigger slices of the pie chart |
| PEARSON EDUCATION Through acquisitions, strategic alliances, and organic growth, we have put in place all the pieces necessary to create the world's leading learning company. These pieces include the most comprehensive range of educational programmes; leadership in testing, assessment, and enterprise software; and the very best in online consumer and professional learning. We are engaged in these activities for every age and level of student - from pre-school through kindergarten, primary and secondary school, college and university and on into professional life. Pearson Education's international business has been growing rapidly in recent years, and we now have a presence in over 110 countries. |
| THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PEARSON Pearson at a glance Pearson is an international media company with market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing. We lead our markets in quality, innovation and in profitability. We draw on common assets, capital, processes and culture. With more than 29,000 employees based in 60 countries, we are a large family of businesses that are alike in sharing the same aim: a focus on making the reading and learning experience as enjoyable and as beneficial as it can possibly be. Pearson is listed on the London (PSON) and New York (PSO) Stock Exchanges. In 2006 our businesses had sales of £4,423m ($8,669m) and adjusted operating profit of £592m ($1,160m). Pearson Education The world's leading education company. From pre-school to high school, early learning to professional certification, our textbooks, multimedia learning tools and testing programmes help to educate more than 100 million people worldwide - more than any other private enterprise.... Financial Times Group The Financial Times Group, one of the world's leading business information companies, provides a broad range of business information and multimedia services to the growing audience of internationally-minded business people.... The Penguin Group The world-famous Penguin brand is the label of quality from novels and classics to cookbooks - and much more - around the world. We publish an unrivalled range of fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers and classics, children's books and illustrated reference treasure chests in over 100 countries. (SOURCE--Pearson) |
| Pearson Education facts Pearson Education is the global leader in educational publishing. Our international business (outside the US) is three times bigger than that of our nearest competitor. 18m US school students learn English and Maths with a Pearson programme. Scott Foresman's Dick, Jane and Spot series have taught generations of Americans to read since 1930. 24,000 US schools are using Pearson Education technology to instruct children and monitor their progress. Half a billion people are learning English with Pearson Longman materials. 10,000 primary schools in the UK use digital materials from Pearson Education. 3.6m college students in America are using one of our online services. Nearly 100 million constructed response scores and 40 million exams were scored by Pearson Education in the US last year. Edxecel marks 9.4 million examination scripts each year, of which 3 million were marked on-screen in 2005. 1 in 3 US school children studies English or Maths with a Scott Foresman or Prentice Hall textbook. 3.5m people qualified in our testing centres in 2005. |
| Pearson programmes and testing centres Scott Foresman Pearson Education Pearson Longman Edxecel online services Prentice Hall |
| Lobbyist Sandy Kress... Pearson's "Big Man on School Reform" (Caption source--Scott Parks/Dallas M. News) |
| QUESTIONS FOR SANDY KRESS, THE MAN WHO WANTS TO BE TEXAS' NEXT EDUCATION COMMISSIONER First asked: Aug. 16, 2007 Response to questions: None Asked again: Aug. 31, 2007 Have you drafted any sort of model for your leader- ship should you be named Texas' next edu- missioner? You are already by all accounts a very wealthy man; would you keep your TEA salary? Would you perform all TEA- related travel functions at your own expense? What changes might you make to TEA and the ESC's as an education entity? What you would do about our state's rampant TAKS cheating? PEIMS? TEA salaries and expenses? How transparent are you prepared to be--would you post your calendar online? Finally, it appears from veteran Texas teacher Donna Garner's published accounts that she approached you ten years ago about endorsing the Texas Alternative Document (TAD) which would have brought true accountability standards to Texas public education. Instead of endorsing the TAD, from all that I've been able to discover, you went along with the education establishment with the result that we now have the TEKS, which are subjective and therefore cannot truly be tested. The TEKS brought millions of dollars to your clients including Pearson. And millions of Texas schoolchildren now cannot read and cannot tell you what six times nine is because they were not drilled and instead were encouraged to talk about their feelings about six and nine and math. This is a sincere question: No matter how well-intentioned you might have been ten years ago, you were dead wrong, and benefited financially to boot, and Texas schoolchildren were harmed. Why should you be rewarded now by being named Texas' next education commissioner? PW note to Sandy Kress: If [these statements above] are incorrect and any of the facts as stated above are incorrect, please show me where and how. As a side note, you will note from my site that I have been similarly careful to keep all issues on topic, and business related, not personal. |
| Win School Mac School Library Pro K12Planet |
| CHANCERY Student Management Software District Administrator Challenge Need to secure district funding, ensure district performance, and meet NCLB requirements. As head of the district, you are invariably looking for funding sources—much of which is dependent upon the schools under your jurisdiction meeting state and federal achievement and reporting requirements. Your performance is under constant scrutiny by both the school board and the community. These groups want to know how your district is performing and they want to know that the money invested in student achievement has been wisely spent. Solution The reporting and data mining capabilities in Chancery SMS lets you respond quickly to inquiries, create effective funding applications, meet No Child Left Behind requirements, and make better decisions for the district. Chancery SMS helps you understand and analyze student data and ensure district funds are employed in ways that have a direct impact on your students’ educational achievement. |
| Corporate For over 20 years, Chancery has been in the business of creating Student Information Systems (SIS). Working first at the school site level, we designed solutions for the Mac and Windows platforms—our award winning Mac School® and Win School® SIS. Over six years ago, we introduced "Open District®," our first web-enabled solution and began moving the key features of our site-based products over to this new platform. During that time we also recognized the need for a fully web- based, centralized, totally integrated solution using web services and employing n-tier architecture. Four years ago, we began building a new and integrated SIS solution from the ground up—Chancery SMS™. This architecture separates the user interface (browser) from the back-end database, giving you flexibility in your platform and database selections as well as critical business logic in the middle tier (which is where our application resides). This allows for flexibility, integration, security, and the enhanced functionality we've spent years developing. We are very proud of the experience we've gathered during our more than 20 years of developing SIS, which manages data on over 13 million students. And we're excited about our Chancery SMS solution—which we believe will take your student information to new levels and help you not only meet, but also exceed NCLB and state reporting requirements. We also believe it takes more than just a great product to help your school district get the most from the technology you are using. This is why we offer the industry's widest and most flexible range of technical support and customer services to help you get the highest benefit from your partnership with Chancery. |
| 2006 Pearson to acquire Chancery Software Ltd 31 May 2006 Pearson, the world's leading education company, today announced the acquisition of Chancery Software Ltd., a leading provider of student information systems (SIS) in the K-12 US school market. Over the past 20 years, Chancery has built a range of software tools to help schools and districts collect and manage student information such as enrollments, scheduling, attendance, grading, and student performance. Chancery is the second largest SIS company in the US market with an installed base of 6,000 schools and recognized capabilities in building, installing and supporting customized systems for large school districts. Pearson is the market leader in the enterprise and student information systems business with an installed based of more than 16,000 schools. It provides SIS solutions for K-12 school districts combining student information, assessment, reporting, and business solutions to fulfill the accountability requirements set by No Child Left Behind through its SASI school server-based product and its Centerpoint web-based offering. These products lead the SIS market for small- and mid-sized school districts. Last week Pearson also announced the acquisition of PowerSchool, the third largest school SIS provider, from Apple. Chancery and PowerSchool will be integrated into a single company, Pearson School Systems, operating under the leadership of Mary McCaffrey. Steven Dowling, president of Pearson's School Companies, said: "Student information is central to our goal of helping schools raise student achievement through personalized learning. The acquisitions of PowerSchool and Chancery transform our SIS business, doubling its size and enabling us to offer the pre-eminent software solutions for all levels of schools and districts (small, medium, and large). All three businesses have a long and successful history of investment and innovation, and together we will continue to develop new services to help schools achieve their goals." "The large districts that Chancery supports require a very high level of customization and support as they build and install their systems. Chancery has a great deal of experience and talent in this area and will bring a lot to Pearson." About Pearson Education Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education is the global leader in educational publishing, providing scientifically research-based print and digital programs to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, in their own way. Virtually all students and teachers in America learn from a Pearson program at some point in their educational career. In the U.S., nearly 25,000 schools use Pearson technology to help instruct K-12 students and manage how they are doing. Pearson Education is a business of Pearson, the international media company (LSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO). About Chancery Software Chancery Software (www.chancery.co m) is one of the leading providers of Student Information Systems for K-12 schools, districts, classrooms, and homes. Chancery solutions offer accurate real-time information on more than thirteen million students to one million educators every day. Built to address the challenges faced by today's districts, Chancery Student Management Solutions are uniquely aligned to meet the accountability and reporting requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. With over 20 years of industry firsts and implementations, Chancery's customized SIS solutions meet the needs and budgets of diverse schools and districts throughout North America. For more information: Pearson Simon Mays-Smith/ Deborah Lincoln: +44 (0)20 7010 2310 Wendy Spiegel: +1 (212) 782 3482 |
| 2005 Houston to Implement Enterprise-Level Student Information System — Chancery SMS® VANCOUVER, BC (December 12, 2005)—The Houston Independent School District, (TX) is one step closer to implementing an enterprise-level Student Information System and integrating it with other instructional and management information systems. District officials have chosen Chancery SMS to be the foundational software solution for this initiative after a nearly 9- month investigation and review process. |
| Chancery Software Press Releases |
| www.nottscountyfc.pr emiumtv.co.uk |
| Marjorie "Marj" Scardino, Pearson CEO |
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