From: Justin Escher Alpert <justinalpertesq@escheralpert.

com>
To: "PARCC@support.pearson.com" <PARCC@support.pearson.com>
Cc: Arne Duncan <arne.duncan@ed.gov>; "hansen@tc.edu" <hansen@tc.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2015 10:06 AM
Subject: The Fundamental Problem With PARCC is Philosophical

Dear Pearson:

The fundamental problem with PARCC is philosophical. Absent the imposition of abject Fear,
a Top-Down system of Control could never work. For so long as there are high-stakes, the
ability to define The Standard of Excellence would become the prime motivator in Life.

A Top-Down model of Control does not account for Innovation. In fact, if one wanted to
maintain Control, one would need a longitudinal mechanism for maintaining a singular Standard
of Excellence over the course of time, whether or not such Standard was ever accurate or
remains true. Innovation could not readily happen between a student and a teacher, or between a
teacher and a principal, or between a principle and a superintendent, or even between a
superintendent and a commissioner without making sure that everybody up-the-line is in total
agreement. And if the Top-Down model of Control were for-profit... well... well then the cost of
replacing the longitudinal mechanism and years of lost data relevance would have to come into
play.

But what happens if the educated members of society decide to switch from a Top-Down model
of Control and go with a Bottom-Up system of Innovation. Well then, if a unit of innovation
occurs between a teacher and a student, people are gonna start getting excited and you are sure to
hear about it that day in both the cafeteria and the Teachers’ Lounge alike. Word is gonna get to
the Principal who is gonna wanna share it with the Superintendent, and you can bet
that she is gonna wanna tell the other principals in The District of this new and exciting
definition of Excellence to be considered, challenged, and perhaps adopted. As word spreads to
the other districts, the Commissioner is gonna wanna recognize that new Standards of
Excellence have been set, and he’s gonna wanna enable every district to utilize this new
knowledge to set new Standards of Excellence of their own. It's only a matter of time before
people across the political spectrum are gonna start looking and asking, "Hey, what's happening
in Public Education? What is everybody so excited about?"

Change, when it is implemented correctly… when everybody has a Stake in the process… it
is exciting and it is collaborative and it is challenging. Everybody gets to identify the issues
that they think are important and use their thinkalizers to think through The Problem. If The
Problem is readily apparent and particularly difficult, Leaders begin to step Forward and
construct teams, Trust is developed, and the Power of each individual thinkalizer is leveraged off
of all of the other thinkalizers. Success naturally builds on success. When teams are free to
form, People coming together in Good Faith can solve ANY problem. The fastest way is
generally to focus directly on The Source of The Problem. This is where the philosophy turns in
on itself:

The People who saw an advantage to the Bottom-Up system of Innovation, they saw the
fundamental problem with PARCC as being its Top-Down model of defining Excellence They
saw The Source of The Problem being the sole entity at the very top… from where the Standards
of Excellence were being imposed... from where all critique and dissent were discouraged. And
The People who rose up and bravely stepped well-beyond their level of comfort, they all went for
it… with an infinite number of little ideas (which through open discussion and debate formulated
into an equally infinite number of concise points). The PARCC Model of Standardized Testing
suffered from being a singular answer in a multiverse of possibility. Without the energy
of Innovation, it would take Fear to keep the coalition together. “Yes, but are you ready for
college and career?” “Your schools are failing you.” “Your teachers are failing you.” “You
have lost the right to responsibly operate your school district.”

PARCC has failed because it has lost philosophically.

As new ideas are constantly challenged, The Advocacy that so called into question PARCC
continues to grow... and it thrives... because spectators and
commentators are welcomed… because participants and dialogue are wanted… and because
Doers and Leaders are needed. The ability to innovate is the very essence of
Life. From Plato through Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education has been
to create an active and engaged citizenry who are ready, willing, and able to build a stronger,
more-robust society. Your for-profit model stands as a hurdle to the ability of an active
and engaged citizenry to effect Innovation. These are our children… our Public
Schools… WE set the Standards of Excellence. That is not negotiable.

Perhaps by beginning a real conversation... by creating the safe space for ideas to flow, we
might together come up with creative, compelling, and dynamic solutions that none of us would
have devised on our own. However, in PARCC, you have lost the intellectual, philosophical,
and political support of wealthy, educated suburban districts that have traditionally set the
Standards of Excellence. The People of The Garden State would like to play a greater role in
formulating Education Policy, enabling every district to define and reach for their own Standards
of Excellence. PARCC stands in the way of that noble endeavor.

May we meet to discuss a new Path Forward? I am happy to come to you and meet with a team
of your thought leaders in Hoboken next week. Thank you for your continued interests in
pushing the limits of Public Education. There is very little that we could not
accomplish together.

Very truly yours ,

Justin Escher Alpert

Livingston, New Jersey