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Opting Out of Testing
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As the standardized testing season begins at public schools, districts are greeting them in a variety of ways. Some districts respect parental objections to Common Core testing and have made it easy for them to opt their children out of testing. In other areas, parents have been threatened in order to make their children participate.
In Detroit, parents at an elementary school were sent a letter threatening to suspend students whose parents failed to attend meetings to prepare for "a big Common Core related standardized test." (DailyCaller.com, 3-2-15)
Because of misinformation about Common Core, parents and the public are learning that they can't trust what they're told by the education establishment and media outlets. A recent article in the New York Times erroneously states: "The Common Core standards, a set of challenging learning goals designed to better prepare students for college, were developed by a coalition of states." (3-2-15)
Common Core standards were not created by states, but instead by a group of non-educators, at the behest of two Washington, D.C. lobbying groups, which own the copyright on them. The standards are flawed and were never field tested.
The two main Common Core tests being given to students, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), were developed using a $345 million grant from the federal government. Once that money is used up, Common Core tests will cost states more than any previous standardized testing.
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia will use either the PARCC or SBAC tests. (Education Week, 2-20-15) A few states will use American Institute for Research (AIR) tests, which were not developed with federal money but are similar to the others and are based on Common Core.
Getting Trained to Opt Out
In January, United Opt Out, a group concerned about over-testing of students, held a three-day conference in Florida aimed to help parents understand how they could prevent their children from coming under the pressure of taking these developmentally inappropriate standardized tests.
A leader of United Opt Out, who is also a parent and a former teacher says, "The testing crowds out anything meaningful." Education Week reports that the Washington-based Center for American Progress found that "some students take as many as 20 standardized assessments per year."
(Education Week, 1-28-15)
One United Opt Out attendee described the anti-test movement, saying, "This is a [diverse] movement driven by grassroots activists in local communities." Opposition to Common Core testing is coming from parents on the left and right of the political spectrum, from Democrat and Republican politicians, and from teachers unions opposed to tying testing to teacher evaluations.
Parents use opting out of testing as a way to remove their children from Common Core (CC) because it is the only option left to many. Most oppose CC standards, federally mandated data-mining of children's personal information, and the loss of local control of education.
Suggested opt-out actions include having students begin the test but then refuse to answer any questions. Another strategy is to keep children home on test days, but that can result in truancy problems because testing goes on for so many days.
There are testing opt out organizations in at least 40 states.
One State Allowed to Experiment
In February, the U.S. Department of Education agreed to allow New Hampshire to pilot a program in four school districts that is a variation of what other districts must follow according to No Child Left Behind and Common Core mandates. The four districts in New Hampshire's Performance Assessment for Competency Education (PACE) program will administer the Smarter Balanced (SBAC) Common Core tests once in elementary school, once in middle school, and once in high school. This means students will be tested in three grades, instead of in seven grades as in the rest of the state.
In years that students are allowed by the federal government to skip the SBAC tests, they will take "performance assessments" that are written by local teachers but approved by the state. The New Hampshire Dept. of Education says such assessments "are complex, multi-part tasks that ask students to apply what they have learned in sophisticated ways."
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New opt-out bill is latest turn in debate on state testing
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Education reporter Erin Richards talks about parent activists, testing changes and the latest on public school funding.
Madison - Wisconsin school districts would have to more explicitly inform parents of the rights they've always had to opt their children out of state-mandated tests, under a new Assembly bill introduced Thursday.
The bill from Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac), the chair of the Assembly Education Committee, would make it clear that any parent could opt his or her child out of statewide testing in third through 12th grade. It would also require districts to publish and distribute to parents an inventory of all tests they administer, including details of how long it takes to prepare for and administer the exams.
A companion bill will be introduced in the Senate by newly seated Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg), according to Thiesfeldt's office.
State law already allows parents to opt their children out of testing automatically in some grades, and at the school board's discretion at other grade levels. This spring an increasing number of parents statewide opted their children out of the new state achievement test with little pushback from principals or school boards.
Thiesfeldt said the new measure aims to clarify any confusion in state law over opting out and will make schools have to "sell" to parents why the testing is necessary.
Many tests are actually required by law. Schools must administer an annual standardized achievement test to students in third through eighth grade and once in high school. That's a federal requirement. The GOP-controlled Legislature in recent years also started requiring Wisconsin districts to administer assessments in the youngest grades to monitor reading readiness.
Most districts administer smaller, quicker tests a few times a year to monitor growth. That's not required by state law, but many districts say it provides good feedback for teachers.
The opt-out bill comes amid other developments in the realm of K-12 testing:
■The Assembly Education Committee Thursday approved a bill that would enact a one-year holiday from using student results on the new standardized state achievement test, the Badger Exam, to judge the performance of teachers or schools. The Assembly approved the same version of the bill passed by lawmakers in the Senate.
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NH Senate OKs measures to opt kids out of testing, notifying parents on course material
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May 14, 2015
CONCORD - Parents would be allowed to opt their children out of statewide assessment tests under a bill the Senate approved Thursday.Under House Bill 603, parents and school districts could not be penalized if parents decide their children should not participate in statewide testing programs such as the Smarter Balanced program reflecting the Common Core standards.The Senate Education Committee recommended the bill be killed, but the Senate failed to do that on a 13-11 vote and then approved the House-passed bill, sending it to Gov. Maggie Hassan.Supporters of killing the bill said if not enough students participate in the statewide tests, then the state Department of Education may not be able to determine if school districts are providing an adequate education under state laws.Opponents said parents should be able to decide whether or not their students take an assessment test.The Senate also said schools will be required to give parents a two-week notice if course material that deals with human sexuality or human sexual education will be taught.The Senate voted 14-10 down party lines to approve House Bill 332, which requires the notification.Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, argued the bill returns the state to the days of censorship and fear, noting it could apply to discussions of Shakespeare or Robert Frost when there is already a law in place requiring school districts to adopt policies to allow parents to opt their students out of objectionable material."It used to be Communists under the bed, now it's the curriculum we have to fear," Watters said. "Why do we want to go down this rabbit hole?"Bill supporters argued parents have a right to know what will be taught to their children and said the bill applies to specific curriculum topics, not general topics such as Shakespeare.Parents have a right to know," said Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua. "Parents have a right to know."
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Educator's Response to Arne Duncan's Threat to Punish Test Refusers...and He Should Take His Own Advice
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Gretchen Logue April 28, 2015
Look at the latest spiel from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Common Core State Standards Initiative spin: Duncan is making threats to states that the Federal Government may have to step in as parents refuse the tests for students that aren't validated and whose adoption/implementation violated Missouri state (and probably many other states') laws. CCSSI also violated three Federal statutes forbidding the Federal Government from dictating state educational development/delivery. But apparently those facts and laws are lost on Duncan as he paints the parents as instilling trauma for the kids as they practice their legal right to exercise parental authority and civil disobedience for the illegal CCSSI. It's just another example of close reading of a situation and ignoring the context of how this evolved and the Federal Government funding a private organization to direct/develop public education.
Educator Kathleen Jasper has a response to Duncan's threats:
To read more and see other videos, go HERE |
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5 things to know about Tennessee's new standardized test
Jason Gonzales,
5:48 p.m. CDT May 12, 2015
The Tennessee Department of Education is turning in its TCAP bubble sheets.
Next year students will take the TNReady assessment, which state representatives are promising will better align with what teachers are teaching in the classroom. And it is expected the test will better assess students' critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills.
The test will be taken online, but the state also will offer a paper and pencil option for schools that don't have the technology in place to administer the test.
"TNReady will assess students on their true understanding of material, not just basic memorization and test-taking skills," said Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.
How will TCAP and TNReady differ from each other? And can the two be compared?
Similar to TCAP, TNReady will assess student proficiency in math and English language arts in grades 3-11. The state says the new test is more than just a revised TCAP, but a way to view whether students truly know the material.
It will focus on the most important skills for a student's future success, according to Ashley Ball, spokeswoman for the education department.
"Question types could include questions that are interactive, where students move around concepts or graphics; questions that are open-ended, where students provide an answer but no answer choices are given; questions that ask students to support their answer with evidence; and questions that ask students to select one or multiple right answers from several options," she said.
What tools will teachers, parents and students have available to ensure they're ready for the online testing?
Teachers, students and parents will have access to free practice tools, Ball said. Teachers across the state will have access to resources in late May, and students will have access to online tools in August.
Students and parents also will have access to a TNReady practice test that is available on the same platform that TNReady will be given. The practice test for each grade and subject will be available in October, January and March, when the testing platform is not being used for tests, Ball said.
The state also will administer essays through TNReady, correct? What does TNReady and the state do to ensure there is a clear and consistent analysis for grading students' proficiency levels?
TNReady will be administered in two parts, similar to how TCAP is administered, Ball said. Part one of TNReady will replace the current writing assessment that happens in February, and the second part of TNReady will be administered in late April or early May, like the current TCAP achievement tests.
The proficiency levels are set by teachers and facilitated by the state education department, Ball said.
What is the testing period for TNReady?
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ICYMI: Common Core Test Found Unconstitutional in Missouri
Although a judge has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the state from paying for Common Core tests, Missouri students will likely still take the tests. A judge temporarily blocked payment to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, saying payment represents an interstate compact to which Congress did not consent and is therefore unconstitutional.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is one of the two testing entities that in 2010 received $330 million in stimulus funds from Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. SBAC and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) were federally supported until September of 2014. At that time states began paying for the Dept. of Education-mandated tests to be administered in participating states.
Judge Daniel R. Green wrote that "the payment of membership fees to an unconstitutional entity would impose irreparable harm on the Plaintiff taxpayers, who have an interest in ensuring that all payments from the Missouri Treasury are made in accordance with the law." But the judge said that Missouri can still administer Common Core tests, even without being a dues-paying member of SBAC.
In July, legislators passed and Gov. Jay Nixon signed a bill that created a panel to review Common Core standards to determine if Missouri will keep them or not. But that recommendation is not due until October of 2015 and would not take effect until the 2016-17 school year. Meanwhile students are being taught using Common Core standards and will likely take the tests aligned to them.
Many Missourians worry that Common Core is contrary to local control and creates a de-facto federal school board. They are concerned about the delay in the working committee recommendations and that the state Board of Education doesn't have to abide by the recommendations of the committee.
SOURCE HERE.
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