Bonnie Cunard Margolin wrote this letter to other parents and teachers in Lee County, Florida. If you recall, the school board of Lee County briefly tried to opt out of testing last year but one member switched her vote and the testing proceeded. Florida may be the most over-tested state in the nation.
She writes:
Being an 8th grade teacher in a K-8 arts school here in town, I love the excitement of the end of the year. Because my students are leaving for high school, this particular last quarter of the year is a huge one. Also, since some of our students have been with us since kindergarten, fourth quarter is a bitter sweet end to a wonderful arts program for them. Our students not only look forward to summer and high school, they are also excited to begin their final ARTS ALIVE week, showcasing all they have learned at our academy. No doubt, fourth quarter is an amazing time for my students.
Except …
Except…
It is Testing Season.
Testing season changes everything. Testing season fills our halls with a sense of gloom. Doors are locked down and instruments fall quiet. Testing season empties our auditoriums, deadens our playgrounds, and silences our stage. Testing literally shuts down our arts program for months.
Testing season forces compliance, instills a feeling of dread, and frustrates most. Testing season involves signing agreements full of threats to our teaching certificates … threats of law enforcement. Testing season involves scripts and scores. Testing season overwhelms our teachers and testing season overwhelms our children.
Lee County Board Member, Mary Fischer, called it child abuse.
I agree.
So, even though I am a teacher in this county, who loves my school and admin, who loves my daughter’s teachers, who loves our district and town … I still choose to opt my own daughter out of the FSA.
More specifically, when state tests are administered to my daughter, she minimally participates by sitting through the test, but she refuses to answer any questions. As per statute, she receives a NR2, did not test, score. Portfolio assessment is used to determine her promotion. When she gets to high school, she will use concordant scores on the SAT to graduate. She OPTS OUT.
This is my choice as a parent. I have opted her out of state testing for years and I will continue always. Opt out is my way to boycott the state assessment laws while protecting my daughter from the abuse. Opt out is my way, as a parent, to express civil disobedience to an unjust law.
Opt out is my right as a parent.
But, as a teacher, my rights are limited. I can not express my opinions about the test to my own students. I can not reach out and inform their parents of their rights. I can not use my platform in my classroom in any way. So, I don’t.
I use other platforms. I use social media. I wrote a book. I write newspapers and magazines. I write representatives and senators. I podcast, blog, vlog, tweet, insta it all.
I scream from the rooftops from the minute I get off work until the minute I return.
I scream because I love my schools, I love my teachers, I love my district, I love my state, and most importantly, I love my children.
I scream for better.
Our schools are ours and we must scream our hearts out when we can. We must fight for better for our students and children. We must take a stand for our kids.
We must.
I will.
Will you?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Testicane Season”
Testicane season’s here
So put away your cheer
Put away your bands and plays
Put away your carefree ways
Put away your thinking cap
Put away your morning nap
Take out pencils, tests and scripts
Cancel recess, cancel trips
Batten down the hatch and pray
Testicane is on the way
LikeLike
Powerful blog. Inspiring letter. Great poem.
LikeLike
If you want to see the creator of VAM in action (Erik Hanushek), you can see him testify in the Citizens for Strong Schools court case. I heard Broad and Fordham when they were discussing his resume. His testimony used NAEP 4th grade and not the FSA/FCAT etc that are used to test Florida students.
http://thefloridachannel.org/videos/4116-second-judicial-circuit-court-hearing-citizens-strong-schools-v-board-education-part-2-115-pm/
LikeLike
Teachers speaking up helps parents understand that these high stakes tests are not what they seem. Please read this post by a PA parent/math teacher explaining the tricky/poorly designed math questions on the PA state tests, the PSSA’s.
She states:
There are plenty of reasons why the standardized tests that students take today are more difficult and time-consuming than before. One reason for the increased difficulty is the use of a new type of multiple-choice question.
Sure, most adults have taken multiple-choice tests. Many of us have less-than-fond memories of taking college entrance exams or exams for professional licensure, but I’ll show you that all multiple-choice tests are not created equal.
Instead of giving students a single problem to solve, the test writers have, in essence, given four problems to solve. A student must compute each expression (without a calculator) to determine that expression D is between -4 and -3.
In fact, the question itself makes no sense without the answer choices. With this question and many others, students are unable to follow the Directions, as stated. How would a student “solve the problem on scratch paper”?
I’ve heard adults say that children should suck it up and take the standardized tests they are given. After all, their reasoning is that students will eventually have to take the SATs. So they should start getting the practice now. But comparing the SATs to the PSSAs is comparing apples and oranges.
In short, the PSSA test writers have written questions that require students to solve all the answer choices in order to answer the question. And they’ve written Directions that are impossible to follow. It’s no wonder our kids are confused by the PSSA questions.
Solving 4 problems to get 1 answer? The math just doesn’t add up!
The teacher gives examples from grades 5 – 8 from the online math item sampler. Read the whole thing… then opt out!
http://whatsthebigideaschwartzy.blogspot.com/2016/04/math-teacher-explains-pssa-math-doesnt.html
LikeLike
“As per statute, she receives a NR2, did not test, score. Portfolio assessment is used to determine her promotion. When she gets to high school, she will use concordant scores on the SAT to graduate. She OPTS OUT.”
I dunno what the above means but sounds like something I wouldn’t “choose” for my kid, and I wouldn’t advise my kid to choose.
LikeLike
Awesome position to take.
Of the G-8 countries, US students rank 8th in math skills. But these same students rank 1st in their confidence of their math skills.
Ignorance being the better part of bliss and all.
Testing is not bad or good, it is a measurement of both learning and teaching. It should be geared to measure proficiency. When standardized, it can used to strengthen cirriculums, address student needs, advance methodology, and show failure. All are essential in providing an education that engages, challenges, and provide students the opportunity to realize educational goals after high school. Just the opportunity. That is all it can provide. Though we spend more than any other country in the world on a per student, I would argue we are not getting back what we are putting in. Not the teachers fault, they are too products of the system.
LikeLike
Flidiot
None of this is true. Tests now in use do not measure teaching or learning. Do not strengthen curricula or address student needs. The scores say nothing about what students do or do not know. They give a ranking but teachers are not allowed to know what their students got right or wrong. The tests are useless
LikeLike
“Testing is not bad or good, it is a measurement of both learning and teaching.”
Can you point me to somewhere in the educational research literature which says, state math tests measure something beyond speedy calculations? How about SAT or ACT?
LikeLike
Thank you. The more we speak out, the more likely it is that someone will hear us.
LikeLike
We know testing does nothing. As a new teacher in FL it’s very difficult to speak up. In my my contract it states that I am in probation and can basically be fired for any reason during my first year. We also went through proctor/test administration training and they told us to maintain a neutral position regarding tests. I specifically remember a clause in the form I signed after I received my training-it stated not to mention the opt out option to students and to those students that were not going to test to just let them sit there. If I become to vocal or even mention opting out I could very well lose my job over it.
LikeLike
We veteran FL teachers appreciate you, Betty. We still have dinosaur contracts and will fight until our last breath. Together is the way.
LikeLike
I truly believe that the state of Florida uses scare tactics very effectively. Teachers in most districts are very afraid to speak up. Our mouths are gagged. As workers of the state, and in a Right to Work state, we have no say whatsoever in educational matters. Isn’t this CRAZY and ABSURD?! Other people makes decisions that affect our very lives and that of our students. Our associations walk on egg shells. When will this end?
Kudos to my colleague in Lee County. Keep speaking up. I’ll do the same in my neck of the woods.
LikeLike