Datafication and Surveillance Capitalism

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the public-private partnerships between Texas public schools and three organizations – SAS Institute Inc., Responsive Learning, and the National Institute for Excellent in Teaching. In collaboration with the Texas Education Agency, these groups have built the Texas Teacher Evaluation Support System (T-TESS). T-TESS is an ensemble of digital services, applications, and analytic reporting that uses various modes of statistical calculation, prediction, and computational processing to monitor and evaluate teachers. The purpose of this chapter is two-fold: first, identifying the roles, techniques, and features of the partners’ contributions to T-TESS; and second, using contemporary thinking around “datafication” and “surveillance capitalism” to examine how these actors contribute to, as well as stand to benefit from, their partnerships with Texas schools. Specifically, the chapter will look at how the T-TESS data infrastructure and evaluation system has enabled outside organizations to establish prominent positions in the Texas education system. Their varied expertise, capabilities, and strategic efforts have secured them as key providers of evaluation, professional development, and data-related support. This has led to, for example, revenue incentives and streams for non-public institutions, and the ability for private organizations to gain access to data that can be used for private, business-oriented purposes.