Some educators seem happy with the testing firm.   more »

A clear warning to education research organization CEOs and boards.... For all practical purposes, when public education was a monopoly, they had one customer - government. Providing program evaluations, technical assistance to schools and districts, advisory services to agencies, and developing curriculum and instructional programs never raised conflict of interest issues. Instead, a broad range of competencies offered an advantage in competing with other research organizations for government business.... But being on all sides of the table is antithetical to the smooth operation of a market. Indeed in Reading First it was the cause of major financial loss for one provider - who has every reason to seek monetary compensation from the source of the harm. In Reading First and RMC, we have the case study of an organization caught between public education's pre- and post-market eras.... It's a warning to the CEOs and boards of this and other research organizations that conflicts of interest are now important. The federal education labs in particular should be considering how much of the "knowledge utilization" space each wants to occupy. If there is not a lawsuit this time around, there will be soon enough if old patterns don't change.... It's probably time for comprehensive board-intiated conflicts reviews. Moreover, properly done, these reviews are bound to lead some research organizations to shed or trade some lines of business and staff, and new operating constraints may lead some researchers to seek new homes for their work.    more »