An education group called ‘Project Tomorrow’  is promoting a survey on a Wake County elementary website. The school is Cary Elementary.

2014 SpeakUp Survey

WCPSS is a leader among school districts in instructional technology, but there is always more that can be done. One important component of giving our students the best we can offer academically is to listen to them, along with their parents, the broader community and, of course, our teachers.

WCPSS is partnering with Project Tomorrow SpeakUp, an online survey for teachers, parents, students and community supporters to provide input around learning, and specifically the use of technology in our school.

WCPSS encourages everyone who cares about their school to take the survey. You can do so by clicking on the link below and following the directions to select your category (parent, teacher, student, etc.), and then to select your school for the survey.

We want to hear from you so we can provide our students with the best instruction possible. Please take a few moments and click on the Project Tomorrow SpeakUp button to complete the survey.

We will be working with the students during their computer lab time to complete the survey. 

I also noted this survey on other Wake County elementary sites. This one below is Holly Ridge Elementary, where the description indicates again that this survey is being pushed county wide:

Take the WCPSS district-wide survey to share your viewpoints about key educational issues, particularly concerning 21st century education and technology. Select your category (parent, teacher, student, etc.), and then select Holly Ridge Elementary for the survey. IMPORTANT: Students must enter the password wake2014.The survey will close on Dec. 19.

 

Who is Project Tomorrow?

From the survey page:

Speak Up, a national online research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow®, gives individuals the opportunity to share their viewpoints about key educational issues, particularly concerning 21st century education and technology. Each year, findings are summarized and shared with national and state policy makers. Participating schools and districts can access their data online, free-of-charge in February 2015.

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the survey page:

Project Tomorrow, the nonprofit organization that facilitates Speak Up, retains all legal rights to the data gathered as part of Speak Up and prohibits the use of the data for commercial or unauthorized purposes by any entity.

What is considered unauthorized?
Parents, we worry about our kids data being used, I’d worry about your own with this survey.

WHOIS reveals this is a group based in California:

Registrant Name:Project Tomorrow
Registrant Organization:Project Tomorrow
Registrant Street: 15707 ROCKFIELD BLVD STE 250
Registrant City:Irvine
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:92618-2870
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.9496094660
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.9496094665
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:jim@WESTED.ORG

Project Tomorrow shares an address with the ‘Future Educators Association‘.

A look at their staff, board of directors and advisory council shows a link to North Carolina via the Friday Institute. Multiple other groups on the Advisory list are Common Core supporters, such as the heavily Gates funded group Alliance for Excellent Education and iNACOL.

The investors list is long and includes major Common Core backers, Microsoft and Hewlett.

Unsurprising, since the surveys are technology heavy in focus and  Common Core’s use of technology is also heavy and will be come increasingly more heavy if continued. This is evidenced by the litany of grants that the Gates Foundation, Hewlett and Lumina foundations have made in ‘non-profits’ working in digital tech aligned to the Common Core.