Roxana Marachi, Ph.D Testifies to the U.S. Department of Education About Wireless, Testing and Privacy.

Education Professor Roxana Marachi, Ph.D writes:

"Will the U.S. Department of Education take action on recommendations made by scientists and medical doctors who document the need for safety precautions regarding the use of wireless devices in schools?  The answer remains to be seen.  On Tuesday, January 19th, the U.S. Department of Education held a Public Hearing at UCLA to gather comments for transition to the new ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act.  Approximately eighty speakers from a variety of educational institutions and organizations made statements and recommendations related to the new law.  Each speaker had five minutes to comment.  I spoke during the afternoon session and will link to the video as soon as it is available. The following is the written statement I submitted yesterday to the regulations page."

"My name is Roxana Marachi. I am an Associate Professor of Education at San José State University where I teach Educational Psychology and supervise student teachers in the Multiple Subjects Credential Program. My research is on school climate, violence prevention, and the promotion of social, emotional, mental, and physical health in our school communities. I make my comments today not as a representative of my University, rather as a youth and social justice advocate interested in the impacts of policies enacted by the U.S. Department of Education on the youth of our nation.  I will publish my comments to EduResearcher.com, a site that also includes two earlier letters to the California State Board of Education regarding concerns about the Smarter Balanced Assessments, that were administered to over 10 million students in 18 states last Spring, 2015. My letters document the numerous technological barriers, design flaws, and breaches of contracts in the development of the computerized assessments that are now being pushed with increasing pressure from the U.S. Department of Education.

I recommend for your ESSA review team to explore and respond specifically to each of the ten Critical Questions about Computerized Assessments and Smarter Balanced Test Scores and that as a Department, you take on the related assessment challenge issued at the close of the Open Letter to the California State Board of Education on the Release of the [False] SBAC Scores also published on the site.

My letters outline grave concerns regarding unfair test administrations, security and privacy issues related to test data, violations of students’ rights, delivery of the tests on faulty networks and technology, and long-term motivational problems that are likely to result from misdiagnosing students with assessments unfit for use. In the medical community, such practices would constitute fraud."

Read her full comments at her education blog at http://eduresearcher.com/2016/01/22/essa/

Check out her Scoop it page at http://www.scoop.it/t/emf-wireless-radiation