If you are the sponsor or co-sponsor of this bill, please feel free to comment below about what the reviewer’s comments are.
Bill Details: H.B. 69S01: English Language Arts Instructional Tool
Sponsor: Rep. Carol Moss, Co-Sponsor: Sen. Howard Stephenson
Bill Summary:
▸ defines terms;
▸ requires the State Board of Education to select one or more technology providers, through a request for proposals process, to provide software licenses for an English language arts instructional tool that meets certain criteria;
▸ provides for the distribution of the English language arts instructional tool licenses to school districts and charter schools; and
▸ requires the State Board of Education to annually report testing data regarding the English language arts instructional tool to the Education Interim Committee.
Reviewer Name: Pamela Budge, Rating: Oppose
Reviewer Comments:
I oppose this bill based on the high cost, the unintended consequences of using software programs, & the lack of student privacy protections.
This bill comes with a cost of $1 million.
The problem with supplementing teaching/grading with technology programs is that students quickly learn how to write to the program by using tricks (such as using keywords, etc.) to get a good score without putting forth a lot of effort. “The notion that a computer can effectively judge student writing is one that’s regularly contested by English teachers and others”.
Right now, there is little protection of student privacy when students log in to a third party vendor’s software program and no requirement of parent consent for the release or use of student information.
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Past Comments
Comment by Morgan Olsen (February 19, 2015 at 1:21 pm)
Rating: Oppose
o Uses state money to fund curriculum. The State’s job is to provide standards, not curriculum. State provided curriculum goes against the principle of Local Control.
o Such systems deny parents the ability to opt their child out, and provide third party contractors with the immense amounts of personal data, political and religious ideologies, and personal experiences children write about in school essays.