Here is good news indeed!
After a dozen years of test mania in New York City, Chancellor Carmen Farina issued instructions for testing that make clear that students will not be punished for opting out of the state tests that start next week.
Here are key quotes:
What should a principal do if parents express an interest in opting their children out of the State
exams?
“The principal should offer to meet with the parents to discuss their concerns. The principal may want to explain that a student’s test scores will be only one of a number of factors that evaluate his or her progress and describe the impacts of opting out of the State exams (as detailed in this School Guide and in the corresponding Parent Guide). If, after consulting with the principal, the parents still want to opt their child out of the exams, the principal should respect the parents’ decision and let them know that the school will work to the best of their ability to provide the child with an alternate educational activity (e.g., reading) during testing times.
“What happens after test administration if a student refuses to participate in State testing?
“Students who do not participate will not receive a score, similar to students who were present for the exam but did not respond to any questions or for students whose exams were invalidated as a result of an administrative error.
“For promotion decisions: Promotion portfolio assessments will be prepared based on specified exercises that assess students’ proficiency. Results will be reviewed by the teacher, principal and then by the superintendent, who makes a final determination based upon standard benchmarks. Students who achieve proficiency based on the portfolio assessment will be promoted. Some students with IEPs and some English Language Learners have different promotion standards based on their needs, as described here.”
Imagine that! “The principal should respect the parents’ decision….!” What a thought! When was the last time you heard anything like that from school authorities?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Roy F. McCampbell's Blog.
Got the guidelines in my DOE email today. First honest document in years.
More power to Carmen and Bill . . . . .
They will cave into charters more than I think they should, but they will also defend public education and best practices within it. They are not the best, but they are absolutely welcome in my book compared to the hideous, wreckless, and disconnected king of hedgemony, Michael Bloomberg.
At least Ms. Farina was in a classroom for quite a number of years as a teacher . . . . .
I hope Michael Bloomberg encounters many an un-green pasture for the rest of his years, however many he has . . . . .
We don’t know how many years “as a teacher” ? This is not available to us. I am not the only one disenchanted with this woman’s past and her abusive attitude toward teachers. She has accepted Common Core without “any” reservation with all of her experience “in the classroom”.
Hold on there.
“For promotion decisions: Promotion portfolio assessments will be prepared based on specified exercises that assess students’ proficiency”
Will these be after the child is dumped into summer school and tested there? As a teacher of many years I tried to steer students free from summer school because I knew of the waste with the materials that were being used to ruin these kids summers. All decisions about summer school were based on the State tests, even if a student had a great year. It was a commercial racket.
What are these specified exercises?? Now the parents can be concerned about two hurdles.
Thank you for this comment. This is a concern for me. My daughter is only 1 of two children who refused to test in her NYC Public School. Needless to say, the teachers have now scared her about a Portfolio Assessment test that is “harder” then the common core state test. I am now concerned that while to help my child stay clear of data mining, I may have made it harder for her. I’m hoping this doesn’t become the case. she has been on honor roll every single report card and I would hate for them to use her as a lesson to those who choose to refuse next year.
Do you know anything about a portfolio assessment test?
Let me back track. If we don’t receive the results of the tests until the following school year (November?), how can any decision be made for retention based on these tests? I was thinking of the time when we used to receive them in the Spring, pre NCLB.
Our district said there is no opt out. We are to counsel the parents on the merits and importance of testing.
This does not take into account that a student who does not take the state exams, can affect the rating of the teacher & the rating of a school. If parents opt out, then the teacher now has to create a portfolio based on the Common Core to show that the student met a percentage of the standards to show that they have met the requirements for promotion, just like the arduous process of creating Alternative Assessment Binders based on the Common Core Standards for Intellectually Disabled students who don’t sit for the State Exams. We have 6 months to create that binder for students who have been earmarked for NYSAA (New York State Alternative Assessment) testing. Now we will only have 3 months to put together a binder if student work to show that they met the requirements, while the school’s rating & teachers rating plummets. It is an overall set up for failure for all. The superintendent is the one who gets the last say on who gets promoted & who doesn’t when it comes to portfolios. Parents think it’s good, but I’d like to see them Ebro
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so, does this mean that a student without a learning disability, on honor roll every report card, never in trouble can be left back because I as the parent did NOT want my child to take this test because of data mining? Can they make her take a portfolio assessment test? That is what the principal is threatening me with and the teachers don’t even know anything about the test. I’m afraid they are going to punish her because of me.
I hit the send button to quickly
My last statement was parents who decide they want to place their child in a charter won’t be able to get their children into them because Charters only want children with high test scores. Lotteries don’t matter if your child is a good test taker. I believe high stakes testing is horrible don’t get me wrong, but the testing should be designed so that it is just a simple event to “check in” on skills acquired during the school year and not be the driving force of the education system nationwide.
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Kyeatta, you are right. Tests should be designed to check up on how kids are doing during the year, not to label them as “failing,” “proficient,” etc.
The labeling serves no useful purpose.
Tests should be used to help students.
Portfolio assessment is the way to go in all classrooms, then we have a folder with the student’s work, not a secret score by the test makers.
Nice interview on Bill Moyers, Diane. many powerful points, South Florida is frightening.
a real education with good visuals. You surpassed yourself.