The Lee School Board in Florida wants to opt out of all standardized testing. They have listened to parents. They are tired of enriching Pearson.
“FCAT. Florida Standards. Common core.
“No matter what you call it, the school board wants it gone.
“Board members unanimously expressed their disdain for standardized testing at the school board meeting Tuesday, pledging to research the possibility of “opting out” the entire district from standardized testing.
“There needs to be a come-to-Jesus meeting … to talk about these issues point blank,” Chairman Tom Scott said.
Board member Don Armstrong said the district cannot afford to continue testing at the current rate.
“A lot of our money is being poured out of this county to go to one company, I won’t say names,” he said. “But on this board or not on this board, I won’t stand for it anymore.”
Dozier asked the board to vote to “opt out” the entire district from testing. Some school districts have done this in Texas, but none in Florida.
“Why can’t we be the first?” Dozier asked, prompting an applause in the audience……”
“State assessments have been designed for kids to fail,” Fischer said. “I’ve worked in school since 1960. Just follow the money, look it up on the Internet, it’s about people making billions of dollars.
“Scott urged the public to get involved.
“This is your school district, and the more parents making noise, the more likely people are going to hear it in Tallahassee,” he told the audience. “I ask everyone here to find 10 other people who feel the way you do and start making some noise.”
“Superintendent Nancy Graham said the board should carefully research the possible ramifications of opting out.
“I’m not saying we can’t do it, but we need to think about these things purposefully and intentionally,” she said.
“Three moms in attendance from the group Teaching Not Testing echoed the board’s sentiment.
“Tess Brennan, the mother of a second-grader, said her daughter can usually read at a fifth-grade reading level. But when her daughter missed answering three questions on an exam to take a bathroom break, it significantly hurt her overall score.
“She missed three questions because she had to poop,” Brennan told the board. “It took three weeks to convince my child that she can still read. She can. She can devour a 100-page book in 45 minutes.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Board member Dan Armstrong says “A lot of our money is being poured out of this county to go to one company, I won’t say names.” Why won’t he say the name? What would happen if he did?
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Probably just covering his butt on some level, you can’t blame him.
I can tell you though, it’s PEARSON publishing.
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The company producing the Florida State Assessments is AIR. It’s no secret. Not sure why he didn’t say. It doesn’t really matter.
The FL DOE is renting tests questions from Utah via AIR to the tune of $5.4 million. AIR will be field testing these questions for Florida schools in… UTAH!
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Many of the other tests and material are written by Pearson – workbooks, textbooks, test sheets, reading worksheets, etc are written by Pearson. They are clearly stamped on each page PARCC Test Prep. It needs to stop.
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I thought only the “bad” teachers were bullies. You mean Pearson bullies, too? (Insert sarcasm.)
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Pearson!
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Useless testing and data collection going in circles and getting nowhere.
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Maybe, since parents never really opted in, the new rule is states must get written permission from parents before their child can be tested.
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Genius thought, MathVale! “No More Bullying–Never Opted In!’ aka–“You don’t have our PERMISSION to test our kids!”
I can see the posters/protest signs/bumper stickers–
“Ask me why I’m AnN.O.I.ed Parent!”
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Why not? I know that there are legal issues regarding testing special education students with these tests since parental permission is required on all testing of these students. With the current push to make them take grade level standardized tests without accommodation for their disabilities comes the legal question of parental consent for all testing. The resource teacher in my room has been able to keep several of her students in class for instruction rather than test prep because it (test prep) violates their Individualized Education Plan, provided by federal law. The parents have been adamant. Perhaps parents can demand an opt in, and out by default without permission.
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Reblogged this on jamesthoughtsblog and commented:
This is amazing. Think about a world in which standardized testing does not exist. A world in which students could be tested on their ability to produce a product based on the skills and knowledge that they learned in their classroom. A world where the students are asked to perform “real-life” tasks that are found in the work place, in the college classroom, or anywhere else in the world that does not solely rely on multiple choice testing/standardized testing. I mean I don’t know of a job where you are required to take standardized tests and fill in bubbles all day. I haven’t heard of a major in any university where you are getting a degree in standardized test taking.
But, there is more and more talk about students not being prepared for the “real world” or college, and that we need to teach them these skills so that they can possess the necessary traits to work at places like Goole. Yet teachers aren’t allowed to fully unlock the students’ true potentials to be successful for their future. The teacher will always have in the back of their mind the upcoming standardized tests–which in some states like Colorado where the test results account for 50% of their evaluation as an educator–and therefor the teacher will always hold back on innovative or groundbreaking ideas on teaching. We are just creating a cesspool out of our public education system. The only place where this higher thinking education is found in the k-12 system are private schools, where only the “haves” can afford to be prepared for the future with the best resources at their disposal. But the “have nots” are forced to wallow in the filth of low-income schools and unprepared teachers. Standardized testing in the end, punishes these poor students and continues to lift up those who were already up high to begin with.
So why should we force our children to keep taking tests that do not truly assess their learning–and application of said learning–capabilities? We should we be encouraging them to think critically, and apply that thinking to something that actually matters–like an actual science experiment that was designed and executed by the student, and it was based on THEIR interests.
I know that seems like a bit much–having students be interested in something at school that they came up with. We wouldn’t want them to think on their own about something. If we want our nation to succeed, and continue to succeed, we need to stop putting our faith in standardized testing as the answer to the low performance, or the validation for high performance. We set up our students, and our future, for failure when we stick the same broken system of high stakes testing and standardized testing. I agree that it is time to stop paying a third party interest to tell us how well our students are doing in their studies. We need to take back our classrooms, place the passionate and well-educated teacher in them, let the teacher and students do what they do best, and support our students in and out of the classroom. These are just a few of the building blocks that will allow our students to grow in their educational journey, and allow them to continue the great success of our nation well into the future.
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What kind of threat is, “carefully research the possible ramifications of opting out.”
The federal government will reduce the amount of money they will give to the state, how much, why?
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Do you know where it is written that money would be withheld?
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Federal funds flow to states and then to school districts. This money represents on average 8% to 12% of state allocations for K-2 education. States will forgo this money if the fail to comply with the testing requirements attached to the money. The money may be a combination of funds from the old No Child Left Behind Act or the more recent Race to the Top and Teacher Incentive funds. It you are not intimidated by the task of going through the awful legal language, you might look at–
Federal Register. (2009, November 18). Rules and Regulations Department of Education: Final Definitions. 74 (221-34), 559751-52.
Here you will see the mangled definition of “growth’ measures and other allocations non-sense that school boards, principals and teachers are supposed to take seriously…as in if you don’t comply, you don’t get any money for us.
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The feds only give us about 7% of our education budget several states have told them to keep it. They do not cover the cost of what is required for special ed that they are suppose to fund tell them all to take a flying leap and let me get back to teaching something besides how to fill in a bubble
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I didn’t read this as a threat, but a statement of fact. Doesn’t it make sense that the board should understand what the consequences will be before they commit the district to a course of action?
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C’mon Lee County School Board!!!!!! Show them how it’s done! Your teachers are behind you and oh so proud! If we unite, other districts will as well! Stop this insanity!
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I agree!!! It is wrong to base a child on one test to pass or fail them in the end!!! Let a teacher be a teacher and teach the books and chapters in a book not just a test!! Children are to Be children..lets not stress them at an early age…We adults know what that does!!! And lets not stress the teachers as they help these children succeed in life along with parent involvement!
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Diane,
Any info on the Texas Boards the article mentions, which voted to opt out? Were they opting out of the state-mandated tests?
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The fact that teachers are force to get good class rating to keep their funding and jobs…
The schools make these teachers only teach these tests all year in testing years .. my daughter is a honor roll student and Im still dambfounded that they don’t teacher proper education during these testing years .
Rid all schools of mandatory testing and have each school teacher the same standards education all over the nation.
This is the reason why America is slowly becoming low educated and being surpassed by other nations..
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This Sarasota County parent is PROUD to stand behind Lee County School Board, Lee County teachers and students! Way to protect your children!
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I wish some organization would do a study of how much money is spent, by state and overall, that goes to Pearson. If one were to reinvest even half of that money, perhaps more support services could be provided in school districts, or more after-school programs, or time for teachers to collaborate in devising interventions that work for their schools
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Reblogged this on Continuing Change and commented:
Yes, this is my county!!! Keep going to your school boards and speaking up!! It’s working!!!
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Diane, this is my school board. Our local parents and teachers have joined together to fight for our kids. This is proof that engaging your school board members works!! Our county was one of the first to pass the resolution to oppose high stakes testing a few years back. We are so thankful for our board members listening and taking this bold step!!!
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Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
Florida, by all accounts, is one of the most politically corrupt states in the U.S. One honest democratically elected school board in one of the 67 Florida school districts wants to throw out the Common Core. I think they better arm themselves for the brutal attack of the Carpetbaggers profiting off the Common Core assessments, because they are about to be attacked with millions in PR funded spin and cherry-picked facts twisted into lies.
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They build new schools in Orlando to accommodate the computers. But does any student have any electives for actually learning the technology? They have taken away electives. Instead, they have dumped $5 out of every 100 (which has doubled) on testing machines. So our taxes go down the drain and the kids are talked at about year 1890 stuff that doesn’t help them in the modern world. Thank you Lee County who has awakened to fiscal losses and the loss of a generation of our children. All to increase profits for the foreign company, Pearson. There must be just enough grannys and grandpas in Lee County Florida who pay attention. And hey unlike nameless faceless corporate entities- they care.
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I believe Florida is on to something here. The community members are acting as one to stand up for the children. I think there is something to be said about that. This district must have some excellent leadership!
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I certainly hope that the School Board is prepared financially to make up the State and Federal funding they will lose as a result of their shortsighted decision. Parents, pay attention! There will still be some type of standardized testing…there has to be standards to which children are taught!
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This is the county I live in. Taking a stand against high stakes standardized testing is the right thing to do for students, teachers and everyone who cares about public education. However, FL is so entrenched in the FL Standards, teacher evaluations being tied to standards, curriculum and resources in place that’s aligned with those standards, etc. that there should be a plan for replacing all of this if the district opts out. The district also needs to address how they will handle the potential loss of funding which whether federal or state dollars, is distributed and allocated to the districts by the state’s complicated FTE funding formula (see http://www.fldoe.org/fefp/pdf/fefpdist.pdf). I hope it is in the county I live in where we see the first FL school district opting out. I just want to be sure the teachers and students are supported by a prepared district/community moving forward.
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The money no longer spent on testing should make up a considerable part of any lost revenue. Without the testing structure less is needed for the school, and a higher proportion of money available could be allocated to student needs. Also, one could content that the state is still required to give the district support because the taxes were originally the property of the residents of the county. It could be a hard fight, but one worth taking on. We should all be ready to support them in this. I will donate a hundred dollars to them. Not much I know, but in numbers is strength until states can be convinced to do the right thing.
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I teach in Lee County, Florida and we’re all celebrating!
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Reblogged this on Mrs. DeVall and commented:
Interesting! 🙂
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Why don’t they address the real issue with education in America? Teachers should be allowed to negotiate their own salary and schools should have a more efficient way of hiring and firing teachers.
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No child is the same! and for a child to go to school 13 years and pass every grade but not one test called the FCAT and then receive certificate of completion! These children are being left behind because now they have to wait for the test to be given throughout the year that they should be in a college or tech school or take their GED! I do not get this logic! And now these children are depressed! Who wouldnt be!!! I just feel like let teachers be teachers and teach these children and give them an exam at the end of each quarter or semester!! They are still “individualized”growing children and we can not change that
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