Pearson: Difference between revisions

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==Consumer-impact summary==

~~Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct~~

*User Freedom. Their use of ~~DRM~~ and ~~attempts at preventing piracy degrades the user experience for legitimate users, restricting copying~~ and ~~pasting from eBooks, only loading a single page at~~ a ~~time~~, ~~restricting printing. Due to their partnerships with universities, many~~ students are ~~left with no choice but to buy access to books on their platform without any alternatives~~

=== '''Ownership Rights:''' ===

*User Privacy

Pearson phased out ownership of print textbooks and replaced them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*Business Model, ~~since 2019~~ they ~~have shifted their focus~~ to ~~eBooks that are frequently updated thereby making older versions obsolete~~. ~~They also develop AI tools~~ to ~~assist with learning~~

*Market Control. ~~Largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines~~

==~~Incidents~~==

=== '''User Freedom:''' ===

~~This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category~~:~~{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].~~

Their use of DRM and attempts at preventing piracy degrades the user experience for legitimate users, restricting copying and pasting from eBooks, only loading a single page at a time, restricting printing. Due to their partnerships with universities, many students are left with no choice but to buy access to books on their platform without any alternatives.

~~===Widespread test errors ('~~'~~2012~~'')===

~~{{Main|link~~ to ~~the main CR Wiki article}}~~

students ~~complained about nonsensical test questions and tests were found~~ to ~~have major errors. around 30 errors were found in test questions~~.

=== Lack of Transparency, Student/ Test Candidate Non-Disclosure Agreements: ===

Pearson Vue's exam policy requires test candidates to read and accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

~~Outsourcing of work and craigslist hiring~~

=== '''Market Control:''' ===

Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref>

~~Excessive~~ influence over ~~education~~

~~lack of customer support~~

~~pearson~~ has a ~~score~~ of 1.8 on ~~trustpilot, and 1~~.~~1 on Better Business Bureau~~

~~Lack of transparency in testing~~

~~making students, including those underage, sign NDAs prior to test administration~~

==Incidents==

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

=== New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'') ===

Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Department and in 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affecting test administration and test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the Pearson failure on test scoring. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

=== '''Securities and Exchange Settlement and Investor Omissions ''(2018)''''' ===

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach involving a data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software that resulted the administrator login credientials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==Products==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ==Consumer-impact summary==
-Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct
-*User Freedom. Their use of DRM and attempts at preventing piracy degrades the user experience for legitimate users, restricting copying and pasting from eBooks, only loading a single page at a time, restricting printing. Due to their partnerships with universities, many students are left with no choice but to buy access to books on their platform without any alternatives
+=== '''Ownership Rights:''' ===
-*User Privacy
+Pearson phased out ownership of print textbooks and replaced them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>
-*Business Model, since 2019 they have shifted their focus to eBooks that are frequently updated thereby making older versions obsolete. They also develop AI tools to assist with learning
-*Market Control. Largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines
-==Incidents==
+=== '''User Freedom:''' ===
-This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
+Their use of DRM and attempts at preventing piracy degrades the user experience for legitimate users, restricting copying and pasting from eBooks, only loading a single page at a time, restricting printing. Due to their partnerships with universities, many students are left with no choice but to buy access to books on their platform without any alternatives.
-===Widespread test errors (''2012'')===
-{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
-students complained about nonsensical test questions and tests were found to have major errors. around 30 errors were found in test questions.
+=== Lack of Transparency, Student/ Test Candidate Non-Disclosure Agreements: ===
+Pearson Vue's exam policy requires test candidates to read and accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>
-Outsourcing of work and craigslist hiring
+=== '''Market Control:''' ===
+Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref>
-Excessive influence over education
-lack of customer support
-pearson has a score of 1.8 on trustpilot, and 1.1 on Better Business Bureau
-Lack of transparency in testing
-making students, including those underage, sign NDAs prior to test administration
+==Incidents==
+This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
+=== New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'') ===
+{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
+Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Department and in 2012,  a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affecting test administration and test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the Pearson failure on test scoring. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>
+=== '''Securities and Exchange Settlement and Investor Omissions ''(2018)''''' ===
+The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach involving a data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software that resulted the administrator login credientials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>
 ==Products==