Psychological Corp & SAT Jeanne eca@fastlane.net The SAT, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), and other state assessments, are written by the Psychological Corporation and are aligned with national standards. PC is a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace (now under the umbrella of Harcourt General, Inc.) HB was purchased by General Cinema Corporation (now known as GC Companies, Inc.). A historical background is below. At least on the surface, it looks like media moguls own the company that writes our school assessments; they also own the company that produces our textbooks. This raises a few questions in my mind. Anything wrong with this picture? Anything wrong with my reading of the historical data? Anything wrong with the idea of school assessments being written by psychologists and pedagogical specialists, rather than subject specialists? Any potential for manipulation of populations' attitudes, values, and beliefs? Does anyone know if Marc Tucker or other education gurus are on the boards of these companies, or are major stockholders? Jeanne eca@fastlane.net ~~~~~~~~ The Psychological Corporation in San Antonio is a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace. Here is a synopsis of their company history: http://www.psychcorp.com/sub/whoweare/wwach.htm http://www.harcourtgeneral.com/history.html * a subsidiary of Harcourt, the nation's largest publisher of books and other materials for education, medicine, and academic/research specialty areas * founded in New York City in 1921 by three eminent psychologists: James McKeen Cattell, Robert Sessions Woodworth, and Edward Lee Thorndike * Harcourt purchased The Psychological Corporation in 1974, adding educational tests to product line * 1983 -- PC moved from New York to Cleveland, Ohio * 1983 -- PC moved to San Antonio * 1991 -- General Cinema Corporation (the fifth-largest theater chain in the United States http://www.light-link.com/astralite/success.html) purchased parent company, known then as Harcourt Brace Jovanovich * 1993 -- General Cinema Corporation changes its name to Harcourt General, Inc., reflecting the importance of its recently acquired publishing operations. HG spins off the General Cinema theatre operations to its shareholders. The newly created enterprise, GC Companies, Inc. (http://pcn.marketguide.com/MGI/SNAP/A080C-CS.ohtml) lists on the New York Stock Exchange. * 1994 -- The Psychological Corporation acquired Communication Skill Builders, Inc. (CSB). CSB develops and markets therapy products for use by speech and language professionals based in schools and health-care institutions * 1995 -- Assessment Systems, Inc. (ASI - http://www.asisvcs.com) was acquired as a subsidiary of The Psychological Corporation. ASI in Pennsylvania is the nation's leading provider of computer-delivered licensing and credentialing examinations and related information services * 1997 -- Harcourt General expands its publishing operations with the acquisition of National Education Corporation (NEC) for $740 million in cash. The NEC businesses establish HB as a dominant player in three new fast-growing segments of the education marketplace. 1999 -- HB & Co. changed its name to Harcourt, Inc. as part of its rebranding project to create a leading educational brand serving people of all ages, anytime, anywhere. ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Website & Archives: http://education-consumers.com You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, use the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or .