Wednesday, February 9, 2011

OWNERSHIP SOCIETY NEWS

I don't think so.
The education technology entrepreneur who started Blackboard Inc. and pioneered on-line (often teacherless) learning, has joined a new venture, which he claims will "revolutionize" the way academic institutions and their graduates move and use education credentials. Docufide, Inc., the company that makes a huge profit every time you have your high school or college transcripts sent, today unveiled a major leadership role and investment by Matthew L. Pittinsky, Ph.D., Blackboard's co-founder and former CEO and Executive Chairman.
“Matthew is both an educator and an entrepreneur," explained E. Rogers Novak Jr., General Partner of Novak Biddle Venture Partners. "I've seen firsthand his ability to identify a big opportunity to improve how education works." 
 Says Docufide, Inc. chairman John Reese, 
"Our passion is not just to reduce the cost and complexity they and their institutions experience along the way, but also to use data to guide their progress and ensure that each transition builds on the last and that the sum total of what they learn helps them realize their dreams."
Ah yes, using data to realize teachers' dreams. That's what it all about.

Isn't it?

2 comments:

  1. Dr. Lavonne Sheffield superintendent of Rockford’s #205 school district stopped me after our school board meeting last night and said to stop trying to associate her with privatization of our school district, because she is not for privatization.

    Since I had not spoken during the public comments portion of the meeting about privatization and instead talked about our current discrepancy in the budget ($51 million claimed by the administration creating a need to close 8 schools, eliminate full day kindergarten, and various other programs) and the REA demonstrating discrepancies in the budget on file with the ISBE and the Boards copy reducing the budget to $15 million (an amount manageable with our current reserves), caught me off guard.

    Had I been prepared for the comment, what I should have asked was why your (Dr. Sheffield’s) school closing recommendations are being provided by your hand picked budget committee that when created, 4 of the 8 members were on the steering committee of the Rockford Charter School Initiative. If you Dr. Sheffield are not supportive of charter schools, why would you open our financials to an organization whose sole intent is the privatization of our schools and assign this committee to determine the fate of Rockford schools, a committee where of 50% are charter school advocates.

    I can't say if Dr. Sheffield is pro or anti charter schools or if privatization would be a good or bad thing for Rockford, but my belief is anything worth having is worth being out in the open, discussed publicly, and above the table. Considering Dr. Sheffield is also affiliated with the Broad Foundation, and is one of the organization's inaugural Broad superintendents (Class of 2002), perhaps Dr. Sheffield protests, too much.

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  2. Yes Doug. Perhaps she does. Check out my earlier posts on this subject

    http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2011/02/ownership-society-news_09.html#uds-search-results

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