This is the weekly summary of test resistance and reform from Bob Schaeffer at Fairtest:
Across the U.S., there has been no let up in grassroots pressure for meaningful assessment reforms at both the national, state and district levels as the final month of the public school year gets underway.
National Time for Civil Rights Establishment to Rethink Its Position on Annual Testing
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2015/05/annual_accountability_testing_time_for_the_civil_rights_community_to_reconsider.html
Support Senator Tester’s Amendment to End Federal Standardized Testing Overkill
http://fairtest.org/roll-back-standardized-testing-send-letter-congres
Arizona Parents Tell State Superintendent Testing Overkill is Main Educational Problem
http://svherald.com/content/sierra-vista-news/2015/05/30/396469
Arkansas Governor’s Advisory Panel Takes Testimony on State Assessment Policy
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2015/may/26/panel-on-exams-takes-next-step-20150526-1/?news-arkansas
California Standardized Testing Scores May Spark Backlash
http://www.govtech.com/education/California-Standardized-Testing-Scores-May-Not-Meet-Expectations.html
Colorado Problems with the PARCC Test
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2015/05/31/trouble-with-parcc-testing/37887/
Connecticut Legislators Announce Plan to Eliminate 11th Grade Smarter Balanced Test
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Lawmakers-Hope-to-Scrap-SBAC-Test-305401021.html
Delaware PTA Supports Opt-Out Legislation
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/05/31/truth-parent-opt-hb/28267687/
Florida A Teachable Moment for Class Clowns Who Botched School Testing
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/romano-a-teachable-moment-for-those-class-clowns-who-botched-school/2231033
Florida Hiatus on Test-Based Retention is a Good Start
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-lombardo/floridas-hiatus-on-third-_b_7456048.html
Time to Eliminate High-Stakes Testing Across Florida
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2015/05/29/time-eliminate-high-stakes-testing/28160163/
Indiana Don’t Call the Ruin of Public Schools Education “Reform”
Louisiana Charter School Leaders Resign After Questions About Testing Procedure
http://thelensnola.org/2015/06/01/scitech-academys-two-leaders-quit-amid-questions-over-testing-process/
Maryland Educators Call for End to PARCC Testing, Not Just a Reduction
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-parcc-testing-20150526-story.html
Maryland Voters Express Frustration with State Standardized Testing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-voters-express-frustration-over-standardized-testing-in-schools/2015/05/28/2f167130-0550-11e5-8bda-c7b4e9a8f7ac_story.html
Massachusetts Teachers Seek Freeze on High-Stakes Exams
http://www.telegram.com/article/20150526/NEWS/150529352
Some Parents Give PARCC Test a Failing Grade
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_28223784/some-parents-give-parcc-test-failing-grade
Michigan Former State Legislator Urges Families to Opt Out
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2015/05/guest_column_former_state_legi.html
Mississippi Third Grade Promotion Test on Trial
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/may/27/tests-trial/
Minnesota Most Teachers Say Computer Testing Problems Affected Scores
http://www.knuj.net/2015/06/majority-of-educators-say-mca-scores-affected-by-glitches/
Missouri 64% of Teachers Say Public School Students Are Over-Tested
http://www.kfvs12.com/story/29168731/survey-64-percent-say-mo-students-are-over-tested
Missouri State Ed Dept Considers Fining CTB/McGraw Hill for Score Reporting Delay
http://www.bransontrilakesnews.com/news_story/article_370442d4-062a-11e5-8420-af57403943aa.html
Montana 4th Graders Detail Over-Testing to U.S. Senators
http://mtstandard.com/news/local/th-graders-give-tester-juneau-earful-about-testing-load-glitches/article_9e1b73cd-3159-5c9b-93b2-f8cddcded447.html
New Hampshire About Half of Nashua Juniors Opt Out Of Smarter Balanced Test
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150529/NEWS04/150539978
New Jersey Newark School Test Protesters Praised
http://localtalknews.com/newark/education/2142-school-marchers-praised-for-taking-action.html
New York Regents Assail Pro-Testing Rhetoric
http://libn.com/2015/05/26/reading-writing-and-reality-regents-assail-testing-rhetoric/
New York City Field Exams Fail the Logic Test
http://citylimits.org/2015/05/26/nyc-students-face-field-exams-that-fail-the-logic-test/
“You Know They Opted Out on Broadway,” a la Billy Joel
http://www.livingindialogue.com/from-around-the-web-opting-out-a-la-billy-joel/
North Carolina Local School Board Airs Testing Concerns
http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x219732815/School-board-tackles-testing-concerns
Ohio Considers Cuts in Student Testing Requirements
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/29160716/student-testing-changes-proposed
Oregon New School Tests Strain Key School Resources: Time and Money
http://www.opb.org/news/series/testing/new-exams-strain-key-school-resources-time-and-money/
Oregon Exams Cause Varying Degrees of Stress Across State’s Schools
http://www.opb.org/news/series/testing/testing-1-2-3-attitudes-approaches-toward-new-exams-vary-across-oregon/
Pennsylvania Lawmakers Consider Suspending Keystone Grad Test
http://wnep.com/2015/05/28/lawmakers-mull-putting-a-hold-on-keystone-exams/
Rhode Island Activist Summit for Children and Public Schools
http://www.rifuture.org/an-activist-summit-for-children-and-public-schools.html
South Carolina New Play Explores Problems of “No Child” Education Policies
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150601/PC2106/150609954/1093/-x2018-no-child-x2019-a-powerful-combination-of-play-and-actress
South Dakota Some Families Refuse New Exams
http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/education/2015/05/31/test-dodging-parents-refuse-new-math-reading-exams/28253077/
Tennessee State Officials Apologize to Educators for Test Score “Miscommunication”
http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2015/05/28/state-officials-apologize-to-educators-citing-miscommunication-about-recent-tcap-results/#.VWkEXkZLUZw
Tennessee Groups Call for Testing Transparency
http://columbiadailyherald.com/news/local-news/groups-call-testing-transparency
Washington Testing Cutting Into Learning Time
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/testing-cutting-into-class-time/
Washington Moving Toward Suspending Science Grad Test
http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/washington/house-passes-testing-reform-change-in-grad-requirements/article_db91db73-c712-59fc-bec6-1a69a151d6e3.html
The Testing Circus: Whose Fault Is It?
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-testing-circus-whose-fault-is-it.html?m=1
States Should Ditch Use of Cut Scores on New Tests
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/03/states-should-ditch-cut-scores-on-new.html
The Fallacy Behind High-Stakes Testing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/the-fallacy-behind-highst_b_7441676.html
Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
office- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779
mobile- (239) 699-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In California, Sunnyvale, we sent home a letter advising parents not to be overly concerned about the test results this year.
Educational Administrative Prophalaxis.
California Educational Bureaucrats are learning from the Results of the OPT-Out Movement.
Sorry to be glib, but it’s like SKY-NET is learning to adapt to the resistance of the humans.
good information…
At my child’s birthday party this past weekend a group of us moms had the opportunity to talk about the past school year. They remained at our previous public school. She shared accounts of her son crying several days after school and saying to his mother, “Mom I’m just not smart”. David Coleman and Bill Gates and Jeb Bush should be ashamed of how mercilessly they instituted test reform which was not vetted by real education experts and child development academics. I offered her my two inch stack of articles about how developmentally inappropriate the tests are.
Shaming does not work with people like Gates, Coleman and Bush because they have no conscience.and take absolutely no responsibility for their actions.
And the testing policies amount to child abuse, for which the responsible parties should be prosecuted — but won’t be, of course.
Some DAM Poet,
Actually, I think public shaming might be a very effective tactic. Those who hurt our children and our democracy should be called out, not allowed to portray themselves as heroic leaders.
I love this list. Thank You!! It is so helpful to parents.
Time is money. Computer testing eats up a lot of time.
Sample questions were given to teachers and some shared. I would say thirty percent were trickery as opposed to assessment. There were errors too.
Adding to solutions that will eventually eliminate the need for the outrageous test : http://savingstudents-caplee.blogspot.com/2013/12/accountability-with-honor-and-yes-we.html
Our district had about a 23% opt out rate for the 4th and 8th grade NYS science tests this week. I have not seen anything in the press or online about this last NYS test to be affected by the opt-out movement.
Anyone else?
To add one for Missouri:
Missouri Legislature throws Common Core test out the window
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/missouri-legislature-throws-common-core-test-out-the-window/article_09441f40-b77a-5f0d-ae9f-7678a30d551a.html
Some good news from Connecticut (for a change!): SBAC scores will not be used to determine Student Learning Outcomes in the Teacher Evaluation process. Schools will need to continue to “use indicators of academic growth and development (IAGDs) based on STAR or other approved measures of academic growth”, however. While this is not the full rebuttal of the useless standardized test scores we had hoped for (STAR, although a quick assessment, tells us nothing about our students), it is a step in the right direction.