Zoe is in the sixth grade in North Carolina. She decided to opt out of the state tests.her parents supported her. At first, the school told her there would be no repercussions. But when testing day came, her family got a letter warning that she would not be allowed to come back to school unless she took the test. Zoe and her dad started the Blue Hat Movement.
You can read about it here.
Zoe refused to take the test and was asked to leave the building. She is a straight A student.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
From the Blue Hat Movement web site:
“The school day schedule is highly regimented and leaves very little breathing room. Teachers have been told that they are not allowed to include any activity unless it has documented proof of its educational benefit. For example, no art or craft projects that do not specifically relate to the curriculum (like decorating the classroom for holidays); no buddy reading (older students spending time reading with younger students); no silent reading time. The principal called these activities “fluff”.
Oh my! I have one word: NUTS!
The principal needs to be FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW!
Parents, students and other concerned citizens will save us from this educational craziness. If this girl were a low-performing student, you can be certain the school would have been thrilled when she opted out. The whole testing movement is just a lot of fraud and people are now catching on. Thank goodness!
SO AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a school in Wake County ..NC…
One of the haughty administrators tells the teachers..”I am not your friend. I am your boss”!
What a bunch of CR*P coming from this administrator.
Administrators are supposed to work as a team players…not as some dictator.
This administrator needs to be fired and has already been reported as ineffective!!
Administrators should be team players..team leaders..not haughty, better than thou dictators…What a shame…
Many administrators in NC are Team Players..
I can definitely understand the teacher with the “I Quit Letter”
NC is one of the biggest test taking states in the nation!!
They spend millions of dollars on consultants, coaches, and zero on any books.
They have the most muddled curriculum known to mankind!!
Thomas Jefferson must be turning over in his grave.
They have thrown all teachers..K-12 under the bus.
Tax Payers in NC need to know how much these tests costs…along with all of the extra hiring to help the Low-Performing.
They certainly do not give any money to the academically gifted!
Many, as my children were..are put in Private Schools..
SWEET….GOOD EDUCATION…GREAT TEACHERS…in the Private Schools!
Diane,
There was a movie released last year called “Compliance.” Very frightening but actually based on a TRUE story!
If you watch the movie, or Google the film and do a little research you may be stunned by the actual events. How could good people do and allow the events to unfold?
I suggest the movie and this courageous young girl address the same issue. Are our schools more interested in compliance or an informed, courageous moral citizenry?
Zoe,
Go girl go. The female politicians here in New Jersey could learn quite a bit from you!
The “Blue Hats Movement” time has come. We have had enough of the bullies of “reform”.
That’s exactly what the new Smarter Balanced and PARCC tests threaten to do to our children when they roll out in 2014-2015 – bully our children.
We may have a problem with Blue Hat Day. It is also Constitution Day, where all U.S. teachers MUST talk to their class about the Constitution. Yes, even the teachers of our youngest students. Meaningful and purposeful? I think not.
I remember trying to find a way to teach the constitution to kindergarteners. I decided to write it in my plans and just not do it. I did that with a lot of their bright ideas.
In the article, Nina Seifert Bishop mentioned 2 lawsuits going on–one in NY & one in IL. Can anyone explain them (esp. interested in IL!), i.e., when filed, who filed, what lawyers/firm/organization handling and what’s happening? I think I speak for other readers in asking, because the more we know, the more we can do in every suburb, village, city and state! Thanks to you, Diane, and anyone out there who can answer this very important question. In fact, that answer could be the beginning of the end of
“standardized” testing, because…yes WE can (and we WILL!).
Zoe and her parents are amazing! I really hope their campaign will work out and more parents will be aware of the issues.
From the Testing Capital of the world comes the message…comes this cr*p
I could not be more proud of the teachers of said state for implementing the new
Standard Course of Study and preparing students to take the new assessments that
are underway.
As the people here seem to be quite informed and I am still doing tons of research, I have a question to ask. I am now in seventh grade, and am starting to think about the upcoming EOGs for this year. For last year, they were completely safe to opt out of because they were only going to get the scores back to us by about halfway through this year; however, I have read some websites stating that you do need to pass the End of Grades to continue on to the next grade level. Is this true, or is it another thing that they say just to make students take the tests?