Pearson Field tests’ raise concerns that school tests are now a corporate product

A new packet of shrink-wrapped state tests will arrive at hundreds of elementary and middle schools across the region this week.
But these 40-minute tests given in early June won’t count for students or teachers. They’ll test whether a private contractor, Pearson Education, hit the mark when it developed multiple-choice questions for state exams.
It’s exactly the kind of class time parents such as Daniel Kasprzak think could be better spent.
“Basically, we have our children as child labor determining and enhancing the product for Pearson,” said Kasprzak, a City of Tonawanda resident who held his third-grade daughter out of state math and English exams this spring and will not allow her to take the upcoming field tests...

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130525/CITYANDREGION/130529399/1010