Large numbers of high school students at Fairview High School in Boulder opted out of state tests.
“More than 5,000 Colorado 12th graders have refused to take the new state-mandated science and social studies tests as student anxiety about over-testing grows.
“Hundreds of high schools students in Boulder staged a mass walk out Thursday and Friday, refusing to take their 12th grade social studies and science tests.
“Fairview High School students say they want to send a clear message that when it comes to testing, enough is enough.”
They also objected to the idea that their teachers and schools might be harmed by their scores.
“Students complain the new tests don’t reflect what they’ve learned in school. Fairview Senior Jennifer Jun says some of the material was taught years earlier, or not at all.
“For them to be testing us on things that we never learned about just doesn’t make sense to us,” Jun says.
“Senior Chaya Wurman says students also worry that part of a teacher and school’s evaluation could eventually be tied to the results of tests.
“Our school is going to be harmed and our teachers are going to be harmed if students don’t do well on this test and obviously they won’t do well on this test because we’ll be tested on material that we have never learned or haven’t learned in years,” she says.
“Thursday morning, nine Fairview High students took the science test out of 538 seniors. Friday, 10 students took the social studies test.”
– See more at: http://www.cpr.org/news/story/thousands-students-protest-colorado-standardized-tests#sthash.DGG400IW.dpuf
Diane Ravitch's blog 
More of the same. I applaud these students and hope their students are cheering them on. The value of scores on standardized tests is overrated, especially for living well thriving in a changing economy. Even colleges are les and less “hooked” on test scores for admission.
What the Boulder students did…. on this one day… will have far more impact on the world, than all of the days, students across the nation, squandered their talents, while tethered to corporate testing stations.
I love it! Let’s face it–the students are the true foot soldiers in this war!
“Corpocollapse”
The writing’s on the wall
The Core is doomed to fall
The standards test
Is under stress
And will not last at all
To all parents and all grade 12 students in North America:
Being as parents (like the majority of educators in this forum), we just keep quiet to pay mortgage and support children. However, we need to motivate our children to fight back for their rights. Children will be the true soldiers in civil rights movement in this 21st century.
DO NOT let them become “sweatshop” workers in 21st century. It is necessary to obtain any trade (electrician, mechanic, millwright, computer programmer, nurses, and Teachers) for living survival. Then, these young workers will continue on studying for university education for degree to be paid by employers. (Engineering, Public Administration, Journalism, political/economics, Master, PhD degree …)
It will save time and money for our children to be confident without education debt plus to be matured enough to deal with greedy corporate in their prime age (30+)
Any students who obey corporate rules today, will become slaves without a chance to live a meaningful life later in life. We have been there and done that up to the present time. So, we do not let our children becoming victimizes for corporate crime. Back2basic
Nurses and teachers require college degrees. Otherwise, I agree with you.
As a resident of Boulder. Colorado and a former District Reading Specialist, Language Arts Coordinator, and classroom teacher for the BVPS. I applaud the students of Fairview High, who refused to take part in the PARCC testing. These students know what’s up; they are tired of being USED.
I meant the CMAS. PARCC is just as bad.
Here’s some coverage (from a different Colorado high school):
From the cpr article: ” Zurkowski, with the state education department, says down the road, local school boards may decide to use the test as a graduation standard to show the student has mastered the subject, instead of requiring a certain number of courses.” Wow. So CO’s currently-required three school-years’ worth each of science and social studies courses– as delivered everywhere from wealthy suburbs to desert charters can be boiled down into a couple of statewide short-answer tests to demonstrate ‘mastery’. Not a lot of critical thinking going on there.
“Colleges have indicated that, in the future, they may use scores to allow students into credit-bearing courses so they won’t be required to take remedial classes.” Now he’s just making stuff up.