The Oklahoma Parent Teacher Association voted to urge parents to boycott all state tests that are not federally mandated.
Historian and teacher John Thompson writes:
Nate Robson reports in Oklahoma Watch that the Oklahoma Parent Teachers Association (PTA) has voted to boycott all non-federally mandated tests “in an attempt to pressure lawmakers to cut back the number of high-stakes tests students take.” The PTA also asked that the state Department of Education not use the test scores to calculate school A-F grades, and called for the exemption of all schools from A-F grading if less than 95 percent of their students are tested.
As the Tulsa World’s Andrea Eger reports, the Oklahoma PTA acted in “direct response” to its members’ concerns about the Legislature’s failure to reduce standardized testing. PTA President Jeff Corbett said, “Parents have had enough. Parents want more for their children than for them to be great test takers. The fact of the matter is this: Our children deserve better.”
Corbett further explained, “In Oklahoma, we know what it is to respond to disaster — and it is time that we responded to the disaster that high-stakes tests have made of our public education system.”
A grassroots Opt Out movement and a bipartisan resistance to bubble-in accountability have demanded a state government response to the testing mania. Parents, students, and teachers rallied at the state Capitol but the legislature did not listen. So, Corbett promised, “Together, we will take our classrooms out of the wallets of the testing companies and turn them back over to our teachers.”
I was in Oklahoma last month to speak to superintendents from across the state, and I got the distinct impression that they too are fed up with the deluge of tests. Many principals were at their meeting and were shaking their heads in assent at every negative reference to tests. They know that the current regime of test-and-punish is wrong. It is bad for kids and bad for education.
This is a huge step forward for the Opt Out movement. This movement is growing and can’t be stopped.
Robson’s story say:
Education Superintendent Joy Hofmeister on Wednesday said lawmakers could have avoided the PTA resolution by supporting legislation cutting the number of tests.
It’s not clear whether she supports the resolution.
The Oklahoma Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said they want to see testing reduced, but would not say whether they supported the resolution.
The main concern is a testing boycott could hurt schools and teachers. That’s because blank tests count against teachers in evaluations and against schools on their A-F report cards.
The PTA resolution does ask that the state Department of Education not use the test scores to calculate school A-F grades.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good start, but why not the federal ones too? Those are the ones most in need of a boycott.
And there is the union sitting on the fence! Politics trumps pedagogy in the union culture too often.
Poooor Deborah Gist, just moved in to her new digs in Tulsa…
Looks like the US Senate is finally getting the Opt Out message too. Unfortunately, the amendment to guarantee the right to opt out failed to pass but this amendment just passed a few minutes ago:
http://m.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/senate-adopts-isaksons-opt-out-amendment-on-standa/nmzCq/
Isakson’s amendment requires any district receiving Title I money from the federal government to inform parents of their opt out policies. If they do not allow opt out then parents will have the right to petition the state BOE for the right to opt out.
It’s a small start but it’s better than nothing!
““Every parent has the right to know whether or not the state allows an opt-out or not” from standardized testing, Isakson said. “That way, if a state does not allow the ability for parents to opt their child out of testing, then it is a parent’s right as a citizen to go to the Board of Education to voice their opinion and ask for an opt-out.””
I dunno. I don’t like the implication that states have the right to decide whether or not to “allow” opt out. If they want to outlaw opt out, they can pass a bill to that effect and get it through the legislature the proper way – that’s how laws are made. If there’s no law, the state has no right to not allow opt out.
I agree Dienne but the amendment guaranteeing the right of all parents to opt their children out was defeated by a large, bipartisan margin yesterday. The democrats were claiming it would harm minority and poor children by ending the collection of data that ‘reveals’ inequality in education. They can’t seem to answer why, after 12+ years of massive data collection, there isn’t much change in the inequality in education, however.
Sadly, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both voted against the national right to opt out.
Bernie voted against it too? Sigh. I’ve been trying not to get too excited by him, although I want to. Learned my lesson from Obama. Guess I’m right to be cautious.
Chris, there were 3 different opt out amendments. Sanders voted for 2 of them, and they passed. Hillary doesn’t get a vote on this, because she’s not a senator. You are so full of it.
I’m sorry — I made a mistake when I said Hillary voted for it.
I meant to say that most democrats voted for it, not Hillary Clinton.
As to my being full of it, that may be so. I had just returned home from a quick 2-day trip and 9 hours in the air and I was tired. I apologize for the error.
I know politics fire people up but I don’t think I deserved that level of vitriol for making a mistake. Do you apologize for your unwarranted hostility?
My information about Sanders voting against it was from my Facebook feed and the page “Education Voters for Bernie Sanders”.
This is what they posted this morning:
”
Education Voters for Bernie Sanders
16 hrs ·
Today, Sen. Sanders voted no on an amendment that would allow parents nationally to opt out of state standardized tests without penalty.
1) what is the temperature of education voters here on this page about this?
2) is this a deal breaker?
3) how do you feel about this in light of the rest of ESEA reauthorization?
4) who’ll be at his next campaign stop to ask him deeper questions about how we keep excessive testing from taking over the school day and school year?
Would love to hear your thoughts below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/8eb8f478-2a67-11e5-a5ea-cf7…”
From the Washington Post story:
“The Senate on Tuesday defeated an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act that would have allowed parents nationwide to opt out of federally-mandated state standardized tests without putting school districts at risk of federal sanctions.
The chamber voted 64 to 32 against the amendment, proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) amid a backlash against mandated standardized tests. “Parents, not politicians or bureaucrats, will have the final say over whether individual children take tests,” he said.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/senate-rejects-plan-to-allow-parents-to-opt-out-of-state-standardized-tests/2015/07/14/8eb8f478-2a67-11e5-a5ea-cf74396e59ec_story.html
I disagree. The best thing at this point is to peel education decisions back to the state level. We cannot on one hand say– it’s not OK for the Fed to unilaterally bribe states into accepting national stds/ aligned to stdzd tests/ teachers-schools to be branded/closed/fired according to student test scores– & on the other hand allow the fed the power to deem who may opt out.
The reauthorization is still a work in progress. I hope that this news reaches Congress in in time to help along the opt-outs.
For pragmatic financial health, test to the funding and nothing more.
What does this mean? Restrict the testing-&-punishing just to those possible beneficiaries of Title I funds?
“Many principals were at their meeting and were shaking their heads in assent at every negative reference to tests. They know that the current regime of test-and-punish is wrong. It is bad for kids and bad for education.”
And now folks, For the Rest of the Story*
. . . and what in the hell have the those principals been doing about the harm to the kids?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!
Have they instructed their staff to not participate? Have they personally stood up in front of the boards, in front of the parents, in front of the teachers, in front of the students and shouted out condemning the testing and the accompanying harm? Have they burned the boxes of the tests in public as a statement on the idiocies that are those tests?
Hey, they nodded in agreement, I guess that’s a start, eh? Hell No it’s not a start. It’s a capitulation of the Vichy kind. Self serving brown nosing adminimals that they are.
“Butt, butt, butt. . .” yeah we’ve heard your butts before, the ones that have proclaimed by their inaction and acquiescence that they are of no caliber to be in the positions they are in.
Someone, please tell me of one who has refused, thrown out or otherwise seriously challenged these abominations of educational malpractice? Is there even one????
Can’t imagine Merle being proud to be one of those Okies.
I think you’d be surprised. The anti-testing movement came from everyone, right and left.
That’s good to read that. What I was referring to with Merle is the less than stellar resistance (actually little to none) by the vast majority of administrators over the years and their sheepishly following and implementing what they know to be educational malpractices.
So, the PTA parents and teachers vote to opt out, but the joke is they can’t opt out of the actual tests.
NPE is supporting “flexibility”, so the states will be able to give state tests to fulfill federal mandates. Thus, the state tests WILL be federally mandated, and state officials will say they hate them too, but they have no choice because its a federal law, exactly as we’ve heard on Massachusetts all along.
We continue the same battles, on the same battlefield. This massive new federal law will make it harder to repeal the state accountability mandates the people hate so much. We can lay it at the door of this those who claimed leadership of the movement, then said the had to support corporate accountability because their old bosses (and in many cases, current funders) are too determined and entrenched to actually take them on.
Instead of a clean field with the universally despised NCLB repealed, we face a refreshed monster with a seven year lease, a whole new arsenal of untested and invalid outcome measures, a license to expropriate public schools by force of law, and daily regulatory authority over the bodies and minds of low income “whole children” as young as preschool.
All the machinery for state-mandated turnaround partners to seize schools by force of federal law will still be in place, but amplified by mandates for Orwellian “other measures” of whole-child grit, which have already been rolled out in widely-hated child abuse products like TS GOLD.
This makes sense.
Can we opt our babies out of this?
“Look inside our state-of-the-art, interactive reports that enable early childhood teachers and administrators to highlight critical information with just a few clicks of the mouse. Built-in support for every type of learner, embedded professional development support, and meaningful ways to involve families are just a few of the features that make our assessment solutions truly unique.”
NEW! GOLDplus™
“Learn more about our revolutionary new digital solution for individualizing instruction, powered by The Creative Curriculum®! For a guided tour of GOLDplus™ call 1-84-GOLDPLUS.”
http://teachingstrategies.com/assessment/
Why are you focusing on this Teaching Strategies Gold+ program?
Perhaps– because you can find the same objectionable content at the NAEYC PreK accreditation org & its so-called [recommended] “Creative Curriculum.” Unfortunately, this curriculum got its nose into govt-funded PreK programs. ‘Creative Curriculum’ changes its stripes periodically, always aligning itself with govt-funded programs.
I left a 9-yr gig w/an employee daycare when they brought in a new director determined to enlarge enrollment w/Abbott-school kids (NJ-speak for govt-subsidized poor kids) – potential PreK govt-funding meant dumping sand-tables, toys, & dress-up in favor of ‘pre-reading & math circles’ (for the 2.5-5 y.o.s!). Enrichment extras (like mine– for lang, computers, violin, piano, ballet, science)– were scheduled for the newly-designated ‘post-curriculum-time’, i.e., after 3:30 when sensible parents have already taken their 3-yr-olds home.
BUT– there’s lots else out there!
I have taught 2.5-6 y.o. for yrs at a Tutor-Time PreK/K franchise, which Is based on a curriculum developed by Howard Gardner [“LifeSmart” — check it out: far more progressive than NAEYC]. My PreK/K is located in a region which starts Spanish in K, so owner felt it smart to teach Sp to 2.5-5, which is one of the scool’s attractions to parents.
I also teach at a daycare for Merck employees, who are multi-lingual themselves & hence value early-language-learning. Their curriculum is sui-generis, & their daycare will last as long as Merck can afford it.
I have a 20-something son who plays in a kid-oriented band for a new PreK chain called Kidville– this PreK chain Kidville is a place which manages to provide accredited PreK while providing creative courses kn music and art.
The bottom lone as I see it, for PreK/K, is to keep the DOEd bureaucrats at bay.
Not sure I understand your last para, pls clarify?
But overall my reaction was similar to yours. How can it possibly make sense to eliminate state-stdzd tests in favor of fed tests– this is how we reduce over-testing? Those state tests may in many cases be based on current curriculum taught– quite possibly based on state stds that were well-thought-out, developed by actual educators. (Or not… My sentiment is, let the state evolve as it will… If its ed stds are low, sooner or later it will lose new industry…)
The OK PTA’s position seems to be, we’ll go w/whatever the fed has cooked up for us by way of stds & tests, & live w/it.
Finally a state brave enough to buck this hurtful trend in education! Congratulations.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
NOT a big proponent of Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoman’s need to pay close attention to her behind the scenes sneaky political moves. She is a quiet snake, worse than Barresi deep into common core donors and crony beauracrat favoritism. She is the phony that tells everyone what they want to hear and is nothing but deception!!!
EVERY unconstitutional test that kills the joy of learning and teaching should be refused by teachers, parents, and administrators but Okie’s are too weak to stand up and too naive to figure out you can NOT trust a person just because of their image and because they seem to be really “nice.”
Hofmeister is a greedy power hungry scam artist)
Principals and superintendents are scaredy cats waiting around for someone else to do the job they absolutely know must be done, go ahead….agree,agree,agree and you my friend become part of the problem voluntarily killing and destroying children’s education and their entire foundation for life! SICKENING, why not be part of the solution and have courage to fight for what is right? Where is your faith?