If we can just help parents overcome their fear of saying No to testing, their fear of what will happen if their school doesn't make AYP, we can end this all now. Only 10% of parents and/or kids have to decline testing and it's over. The 10% isn't some mystical 100-monkeys number.
According to psychometricians, if the tests fail to test the same percentage each year, all the stats are invalid. That's why there is extreme pressure on schools to test 100% and why there is the threat of failing if the percentage for the whole school OR for any measurable subgroup falls below 95%. In fact, for small rural schools, their scores are statistically meaningless anyway, but they still have to take the test, or else we could all sue under the equal protection clause.
[U.S. Education Secretary] Arne Duncan said earlier this week that the Dept of Ed predicts 82% of schools will fail this year no matter what we do. So why not force the schools to fail because parents and kids say NO to testing rather than putting the burden and the blame on kids with special needs, living in poverty, struggling with English, and so on. That's just wrong. In fact, it's evil.
I also highly recommend the book "Making the Grades" by Todd Farley. It's been recommend by Alfie Kohn and Jonathan Kozol. It's very readable, very funny and after reading it no parent in their right mind will ever let their child be subjected to these tests ever again.
It's insane that we are allowing our children to be subjected to a full two weeks or more of these pointless tests that only enrich the private for-profit testing industry. I remember taking the SATs or GREs took a couple of hours on a Saturday morning, back when it was just ETS [Educational Testing Services]. Now it's multi-national companies like Pearson (in which Qaddafi is major investor; Qadaffi and NCLB Testing ) or McGraw-Hill or DRC that are draining millions of education dollars into the pockets of CEOs while our kids tests are scored by temps. [Read: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Test Scorer ] Farley recently sent this to me:
"Last summer, before she lost her job, [D.C. Chancellor of schools, Michelle] Rhee was arguing for even MORE standardized tests in the DC schools. As a parent, she said, she "wanted to know how her kids are doing...." To me, that is the fundamental problem with standardized testing: In my opinion, we don't know anything about the kids at all. We score their open-ended responses in sweatshop like conditions, bored out of our skulls, item by item. We never, in other words, get a feel for a whole human being, just random words on a page.
The multiple choice questions are either too simplistic or pretend they are too complex, as if you could get some understanding of a child's understanding about literary characterization (or whatever) in multiple choice format. As far as I'm concerned this whole thing is a great deal for big business, but that's it.
If Michelle Rhee really wanted to know "how her kids are doing," all she needs do is ask the friggin' human being standing at the front of their classroom, the person who hears her kids' answers (and thought processes) every day, who knows how hard those kids work or how they play together, etc etc."
Michele also has a blog called: Leaving Behind the PSSA Here's an excerpt from a recent letter to Michael Hardy, superintendent of State College Area School District.
"We are told that private for-profit companies can do a better job than you and others who are committed to public education because of the free market. The free market resulted in scandals ranging from Halliburton and Blackwater in Iraq, to the Enron debacle, to the recent outrage in our own backyard with private for-profit prisons for kids.
When our tax dollars are involved, greed and corruption run rampant in the “free market.” Please think about your role in this and if there is anything you can do to take a stand against the Big Lie that is NCLB and high-stakes standardized testing which threatens the future of the kids you serve."
Visit her Facebook page: NCLB Testing: Stop the Madness Know the Truth
29 comments:
Thanks for posting this. After adopting CMP2 for the district's middle school math curriculum I did not allow my daughter to take the standardized tests that counted for the NCLB requirement. I did make sure she was fine doing that and she was very happy to miss the tests. She was two grade levels ahead in math and luckily was never in a class that used CMP2 but I didn't want her high scores to make it look like CMP2 was working. Most parents who fought the adoption were afraid to opt their children out of the tests but a few did but it wasn't enough to make an impact.
The inferior CMP2 curriculum did make an impact though and test scores tumbled and still have not recovered. Despite that, the school board is staying the course they set several years ago. I guess their goal is to ensure no students are prepared for high school math.
My daughter is in 10th grade now and in precalculus. We live in Washington State and she has to pass the state assessments in order to graduate from high school. I would opt her out and just have her take the SATs but she has to fail a test at least once before being given the option of passing with the SAT. This year the state is going to end-of-course exams for math and she will have to pass an Algebra 1 exam and a Geometry exam. She took Algebra 1 three years ago and geometry two years ago. The tests are new and have never been tested so it will be interesting to see the test results and hear from my daughter if Algebra 1 and Geometry are even being tested. I really resent that my daughter is part of a test case and she has no choice in it.
Thanks for responding! I heard that our schools (elementary) use Everyday Math. I found a great presentation on what it looks like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI&feature=related
It absolutely boggles my mind, and I wonder how many parents will be able to help their kids with their homework if needed.
Conny, thanks for posting this. Denver uses Everyday Math, and the parents constantly complain about it. What immediately sticks out to me is how much it immediately puts English language learners at a disadvantage.
We still need to "meet" on the phone! I think it's my fault that we haven't.
The issue is that our schools are punished by poor AYP scores even by not meeting participation. So if kids don't take the test, it means our school may 'fail' on our state report card. I think the only way to really address this is to lobby your state dept. of ed to work on their punitive standards and stop the NCLB habit!
The real problem that testing has caused is that schools have chosen the easy way out. They narrowed the curriculum and squeezed out all active learning options from their schedules. This is punishing the kids as young as five and that is not OK!
Testing kids is bad enough, but it is worse when the schools do nothing to help keep the curriculum developmentally appropriate for the kids. Recess is gone, playtime in kindergarten is gone, self-directed learning activities and hands-on learning is gone; all things that help make school at least bearable for most kids is gone.
It is a parent's responsibility to look out for his or her child, and it is totally appropriate to refuse to go along with things you deem to be harmful. For too long parents have remained passive out of concern that non compliance on their part would hurt the school.
Remember though, that by 2014 all schools will be found to be failing (regardless of the kids who do not take the test)and if no good changes are made to the "new NCLB/ESEA law" schools will be taken over by outside private agencies payed for with tax payer money. Now is the time to opt out, because it takes five years before a school has to be turned around.
Take a look at this clip: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4613083/parents-take-stand-against-standardized-testing/?playlist_id=86912
Hi, Connie
Great post!! It's going around in my Facebook circle and I have just posted it on my ChangeTheSchools page there: http://facebook.com/ChangeTheSchools We all need to stand together to speak up against this and other senseless ways we are judging kids, schools, teachers and driving parents and our communities crazy. Please join us and tell your friends, and for more on the corporate policy of "standardized testing" please get a free copy of my latest report “How the Corporate Culture of Standardized Testing Warps Our View of School Reform.”
(on my website). THANKS for speaking up so well!! Patricia Kokinos, http://ChangeTheSchools.com
Opt out now! The test has little or no value for kids anyway. Most schools have their own pre and post test that can go directly to the teachers to help kids.
It is time to have a viable alternative ready. Don't be left flat footed and let someone else come up with a cockamamie scheme. www.wholechildreform.com for more
Rhee doesn't even live with her children. They live with dad. Wonder what kind of parent test she should take.
I live in SD and the information says that no one can opt out of standardized testing, but an attorney says they are wrong. If you want to opt your children out you have that right. The law indicates that the school has to make it available to all children of a certain age, not that all children of a certain age have to take it. The latest results are showing according to the "test" that 4th & 8th graders across the state are below average in reading and math at 60% and only 40% meet standards are above. I have a hard time believing that our children are that far behind that more than half of them are below average. I also don't believe its the teacher but the guidelines in what and how they teach. In addition the report suggests that 65% of parents support Common Core Standards and those who don't, do not because of ideology. I again disagree with this statement. I am a home schooling parent, whether my child was force to take standardized testing or not I would still administer the test so i could see where I needed to improve. I am not against testing but what I am against is how the test results are used. I don't believe they are improving our education system and I also believe it will only get worse with Common Core. My son when he finished his 5th grade year, I went into the school on the last day after all the kids had been dismissed, I met with his teacher and thanked her. I told her what a wonderful job she had done with my son. He has ADD and was not being treated for it at the time rather they were assessing him as a learning disabled child. His teacher on the other hand told him every day, "I am not concerned with what you do, I just want you to be successful." the programs they put my son in based on their assessment made him feel like he was stupid. My son was anything but. When I went to see his teacher that day I wanted her to know what it meant to him and me that she didn't treat him like he was an inconvenience in her classroom but rather with the respect of meeting him where he was while growing his educational capabilities. She started to cry and said you don't know what this means to me. She said I am resigning this year. I just don't feel like I am making a difference anymore. I have been a teacher for 30 years. I said that you have made a difference in my son's life and we will never forget it. I stopped back in the office the following school year to ask if anyone knew what this teacher was doing now. The secretary in the office said as a matter of fact I do, she has moved up to alaska and is participating in a teaching program where teachers, teach outside of the box and watch the children learn. Wow what a concept. I never heard back on how it went but we need to inspire our teachers to want to inspire our children instead of telling them if the child doesn't meet our standards then you have failed as a teacher. The truth is children are all unique and special and they don't all learn the same way. The only regret I have about my children's education is that I did not home school my son when I saw that the future teacher's he had were not like his 5th grade teacher. The truth is all of our children deserve a Mrs. Fuller in their life every single year for every single class.
Im from Louisiana and have two kids in elementary! One in the fourth and one in second! When yall say no to testing which test are yall talking about! My fourth grader is taking the leap in a few weeks! She failed in last year so she had to repeat the fourth grade. If anyone can please help it is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
The tests talked about are the state standardized tests that were required under No Child Left Behind to determine if kids performed at grade level. Now they will become part of Common Core and taken on-line.
Schools use coercion to get students to take the test because their future as a public school hinges on how well students do. That is why it is important to refuse the test along with other parents, so it will be more difficult for administrators to bully and intimidate you.
Go to www.UnitedOptOut.com to the Opt Out Guides by State to see what you can do about your situation.
I too am not happy with the way our schools are heading. Our district told parents that if a chid wants to refuse the test (claiming that parents can not make this decision, even for elementary kids) the child must formally answer questions from the principal one on one. How intimidating is that??? Once again an inappropriate situation to put a child in. We live in NY. Does anyone know what legal rights parents and students have to refuse the tests? Seems like those who have our children's best interests are the ones now intimidating them!
Kris, it is critical to inform other parents of the insanity and abuses. Form a group to raise hell! In the mean time, go to http://www.UnitedOptOut.com to the Opt Out Guides by State to see what you can do about your situation.
There are a lot of horror stories of parents being threatened or coerced when they let the school or district know they want to opt their child(ren) out of the test. I suggest that for any threat that comes your way you request that it is put in writing, so that you have documentation in case you want to take legal action.
All kids should be home schooled. .YouTube is better than any teacher
Heywood said:"All kids should be home schooled. .YouTube is better than any teacher"
I think well chosen electronic media or other, like books, can be a great supplement in a child's education, but only a teacher -- and I mean that in the broadest sense, so it includes parents or others who take a genuine interest in the child -- is the one who can nurture and stimulate the child's interest until he or she is old enough to be a fully autonomous learner. Even then, physical interaction with others about anything of interest, is still needed for intellectual growth. Imagine if you could take in all that was of interest to you but you could not share, discuss or debate it with others. It would most likely cause some emotional damage.
Since when does she have to "fail" something to take the SAT. You go online and register her. There shouldn't be a question about "failing" anything on the registration. At least in Texas (and I've registered 4 of my 6 so far) there has been no questions about it at all. In fact our school counselor encourages our kids to take it in their Junior year.
You can get all of the "refusal", no provision for opting out, info and templates at the NYS alliance for public education NYSAPE. Just wanted to clarify wording bc refusing is what we are doing and it doesn't impact teacher or school...child gets a score of 999, all info is on that site
Amen to putting a stop to these tests. They do nothing for our children but cause them stress. The whole curriculum has been made around these tests to ensure the schools "pass". It's ridiculous and they need to be stopped.
Refuseny.org
Always follow the money. It's always about money and who controls. Right now we have a most corrupt government ...plain and simple. If corporations are people, then haul the DEFORMERS into jail. After all...the school to jail pipeline is caused by them, and those in Congress re: our lame and most harmful education policies.
I also live in Louisiana with a 4th grader who is repeating 4th grade because she failed LEAP last year. She had a 98% overall grade point average, but failed the standardized test. The only way I have found to opt out of standardized testing in Louisiana is by withdrawing your child from school, and then re-enroll after testing; however, I don't know what happens when you try to re-enroll. We are going to finish up the school year, and then we are returning to homeschool, unless I can find a private school with no ties to a specific religion.
The United Opt-Out site has since been hacked into pieces...best to wait and get more information from them when it is available on FB..they are putting a new website together slowly but surely. This hacking only validates the cause and shows that we are working harder than ever to make sure our kids get the best education possible!
Reading is fundamental, LRobertson. She did not say her daughter has to fail something to TAKE the SAT. Try reading what she actually said again, it makes more sense.
We live in SD now too. As a military family, we see other military families move in and out all the time. Consistently, we see that the kids who move here are about 3-6 months ahead of the curriculum here and anyone who moves away is 3-6 months behind wherever they land. It doesn't seem to matter if its DC, Texas or Alabama. I know the teachers here are doing a wonderful job, just like they do nation-wide, but I think the curriculum here is lacking. I'm not surprised to hear about the low scores you are talking about. I'm not saying common core is the answer, but something seriously needs to be improved so more of our kids are competitive nationwide.
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