Anthony Cody disagrees with those who say that “opt out is dead” and that those who celebrate it are helping to preserve the illusion of resistance.
Critics of Competency Based Education have concluded that the fight must shift away from opt out to a fight against online testing. Unfortunately they go on to say that people like the leaders of New York’s historic opt out movement are dupes or are purposely shielding the corporate agenda.
Anthony has long been a critic of CBE.
He writes:
I do not see things unfolding this way. First of all, opting out of a state test is an act of civil disobedience. It is an act of individual and collective defiance of a top-down mandate.
Powerful interests NEVER want people to engage in acts of defiance. Once such acts are successful, people learn that they have a power that system managers and the ruling class do not want them to have. Bill Gates and company are literally spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to kill the opt out movement.
Opting out is a transcendent act of defiance that opens the door to all sorts of defiance of the controls and systems we are expected to engage in. It should not be abandoned. It should evolve. It has been necessary to Opt Out of annual standardized tests – and it still is, as long as they are being used to rank and sort students and teachers. Now it may be l be necessary to opt out of excessive screen time. Opt out of online systems that track and share highly sensitive personal information about your children with for-profit vendors, or others who are using this information not to educate them but to market to them and treat them as consumes. Parents Across America has posted a useful toolkit and opt out form.
The state annual test may or may not be dead in a few years. In any case, the spirit of Opting Out will live on, and the success of the movement is inspiring parents to take control into their own hands and resist abusive practices. The movement of defiance, one of non-compliance, is growing, and that spirit should live on as long as technology and tests are used to manipulate and control teachers and students against their wills and against their best interests.
The New York State Allies for Public Education have already made an enormous difference. Governor Cuomo has gone silent about “reform.” The chancellor of the State Board of Regents stepped down instead of running for another term (she was a big supporter of high-stakes testing, VAM, and charters). The new chancellor is a friend of NYSAPE. The whole tone in the state has changed and will keep changing because the parents are not quitting. They will keep opting out until they get the changes they seek in Common Core and testing.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Anthony is correct. YOU are correct.
We must fight the EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Click to access eic-oct_11.pdf
Their aim is to destroy public schools, and the testing mania is their PLOY, thanks to Bush and buddies.
The parents will look to OPT OUT because their kids are miserable.
Keep telling them the truth… that they can do this!
Keep up the fight for TRUTH!
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Parents are also capable of understanding, in our modern days of über technology, that it is getting more and more dangerous to NOT opt out of an endless key-stroke tracking.
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Yes, opting out is important. In those places where online CBE is already in full upswing, we could use lots of help from the national leaders on strategies to fight it. Here’s a link to Howard County Public Schools – also in Maryland. You can see that online programs that are, essentially, online CBE are REQUIRED for grades. You’ll see Pearson in the list.
http://www.hcpss.org/digital-tools/
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One of the best indicators that opt out is not dead and that it is effective is that the vast majority of rheephorm heavyweights and shot callers—in all their hues and colors and shadings—have been and are furiously working to save it BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Also called rebranding and relabeling aka lying. But it’s the same old wine in shiny new bottles.
With the proviso, natcherly, that standardized tests-to-punish are meant in their bulk for OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN. For THEIR OWN CHILDREN…
That’s the way it is…
😎
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Oops.
To clarify: to “save it” I meant the entire rheephorm project by means of test-to-punish etc.
In other words, that they would be deliriously happy if opt out were to disappear.
My bad…
😎
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Ed reformers don’t notice, but the only thing they talk about re: public schools is testing.
It’s central to the “movement”- they say themselves they are about 1. choice and 2. accountability but I think it’s an indication of how cloistered and closed they are that they simply don’t notice the only thing public school parents hear from them is how we have to test, what the results of test scores are. how we should extend test score evaluations to teachers. etc.
I can go the Ohio Dept of Ed right now, an entity that is completely run by ed reformers, and there will be NOTHING on public schools other than “accountability”
The message they send is they only care about my son or his school in terms of efficient data collection and proper ranking. It’s incredibly off-putting. Relentlessly grim and sterile. If I listened exclusively to high profile ed reformers I would flee public schools too. These public schools they describe as the goal sound horrible and joyless.
I think they’re having trouble in Massachusetts because of this echo chamber effect.
No one who attends or values a public school will vote for people who either ignore public schools or offer nothing to public schools. They can keep scolding us about testing if they want. Until they come up with something positive for public schools they won’t be welcome among people who value their existing schools.
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Chiara,
The goal of reformers is to make public schools appear so awful that everyone flees them to an untried or failing alternative. Trump probably thinks that all non-public school choices are like the Hill a School, where his sons went. The tuition is over $50,000.
The reformer game in Mass is to trick the public into believing that a yes vote will improve public schools, when the reality is that a yes vote will find a parallel system under private management, taking money away from public schools and leaving them with the kids the charters reject.
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We will not return to yesteryear. School districts are investing huge sums in technology and technological support. Technological instruments of control are playing expanding roles. Instruction in the arts is being dismantled. Dorothy is not going back to Kansas.
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Yes, in my district the elementary schools are using the laptops much more now. This is to get them used to click and drag and other “skills” to prepare for the upcoming online state tests.
Nevermind all of the recent research showing that more screen time is actually harmful for these kids. Ugh.
It seems that the success of the administration, which is measured by test scores, trumps the well-being of the students. Most teachers just don’t get it.
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I have posted several links to studies showing that kids get lower scores if tests are online.
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So true. Evidence means nothing to the “reform” crowd. They have their marching orders to mine data the way Bill wants it. The kids don’t matter so much, just the data.
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Opting out is alive and well as parents and teachers continue to fight testing used for graduation requirements, promotion from third to fourth grade, teacher evaluations, community school shutdowns/takeovers, data mining, and schools that are losing quality instruction and physical exercise to constant test prep. United Opt Out National has sample letters for opting out of both annual testing and digital instruction that involves the harmful aspects of too much screen time, data mining, indoctrination, and subpar teaching and learning that negatively impact cognitive, physical, and social/emotional development . Visit our website http://www.optoutnational.org for more information.
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Website correction: http://www.unitedoptoutnational.org
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Opt out must remain as a parent lead movement while there are still tests that need to be opted out from, and at the same time strategies must be developed to fight the coming iteration of data driven education, CBE. And that is a thing we must remember, that no matter the name or method, this is at its core not just a corporate/ideological takeover of public education driven by greed and the lust for power, but a war over how information is generated, disseminated and controlled by the big data faction of reform who want to remove teachers as the primary stewards of information dissemination from the equation, from all aspects of education itself.
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Sorry for the failed edit….”strategies must be developed FOR THE OPT OUT MOVEMENT TO MORPH INTO A NEW FORM IN ORDER to fight the coming iteration”………
In other words, what Anthony said.
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A simple narrative that can be employed here is that just because discrete tests are falling by the wayside doesn’t mean that the testing itself has gone away. Parents must be helped to understand the way that not only the testing but data collection and personal profiling will be invisibly embedded in their children’s school day, diluting it while keeping their children working as profit centers for the reformers and big data proponents. We must explained to them that computer adaptive is not the same as personalized since the material remains the same. No parent wants their kid to be a servant of big brother’s needs either in school or in the workplace as it is envisioned by those pushing this, and at its most basic, that’s what’s happening. This latest iteration of data mining is still not about the kids, it never has been. The overreach has only gotten bigger and more obfuscated, it has not gone away.
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I don’t understand why the anti-CBE folks think that opting out and fighting against CBE are an either/or option. BOTH the BS Test AND CBE are a danger to true public education and the students therein. Can’t we just do both? Opt out of the BS test AND fight against overuse of technology? They’re not mutually exclusive.
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I think that’s what most of the recent posts that I’ve seen have actually said – Opt-out AND fight every bit as hard against all the online computer testing, which is the next wave corporatization of public schools. Some of our children are already knee-deep in the wave of overuse of technology in schools – its not something off in the future – and I am so excited to see the increase in national leaders talking about it and helping us fight it. We really do need their leadership.
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Threatened Out West,
Exactly right.
You fight the menace before you.
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Public school parent: Sadly, I have seen some posts elsewhere lately that call Diane the enemy. And they’re anti-reform, too. I don’t know why we all aren’t on the same side: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/09/todays-communique-to-ravitch-forces.html
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I know this article is about a widening division within the “movement” but the simple answer is yes, CBE/Personalized Learning promises to make the current OptOut model irrelevant. That is UNLESS the tactic of opting out begins to focus on CBE/PL, making its nefarious methods of exploitation and subjugation a priority in our analysis’, communications and actions here and now. Its infrastructure exists now and its power is growing now, making waiting for resistance to “evolve” a fools strategy. I’m not seeing that yet within the more politically centrist aspects of “the movement.” Also, what is consistent of “power interests” throughout US history is their ability to appropriate disruptive movements, which is the current charge by some about others.
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I agree with almost all that you have said, except on the subject of appropriation. From what I have seen, that is most often a temporary phenomenon that gets rolled back once the grift, the con has been laid bare. “The current charge by some about others” fails to acknowledge the roll back, and that is a far bigger problem than the original appropriation itself.
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Great read from Peter Greene.
“Punch Number Two– And Now, John King in Bizarro World
‘We have made major progress during this Administration in directing investments in education to evidence-based strategies,” U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said. “Relevant, rigorous evidence must be an essential part of a strong framework for decision-making. We hope this guidance will help decision makers as they consider, choose, implement, and refine their strategies to support students.’
Um, no.
This administration has given us
support for Common Core
forced implementation of Big Standardized Tests
insistence that results of BS Tests be proxies for student achievement
required use of test scores as measures of teacher and school quality
advocacy for and investment in charter schools
mandate for “fixing” students with special needs by just expecting them to do better
endless push for computerized learning
policies based on premise that students who get higher test scores will get better jobs, better life
assertion that school districts and teachers routinely lie about student achievement
list of approved and allowable strategies that must be used for “failing” schools
extension of federal oversight and management of state and local school systems
Race to the Top
School Improvement Grants
and other program based on the notion that competitive grants are the best way to fuel improvement
None of this was evidence-based, not even by the fuzzy definitions above. In fact, the more evidence rolled in, the less evidence-based any of it appeared to be. To call this bureaucratic basket of baloney “evidence-based” or “successful” requires a disconnection from reality that would make Don Quixote look hard-nosed. If it’s a deliberate lie an act of political spinsmanship, it is a whopper of trumpian dimensions.”
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/09/john-kings-evidence-based-revisionist.html
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The goal of Thursday’s group blogging effort was to feature different activist’s perceptions of the opt out movement up to this point and to share reflections about where we go now that personalized learning and 1:1 device initiatives have begun to take over our classrooms at an unprecedented rate.
We wanted to spark conversation, and obviously it worked.
We elected to write provocative titles in order to grab people’s attention-which also worked as planned. Unfortunately it appears some people didn’t actually read the content of the articles before creating their own responses. Or, if they did, they chose to leave out key aspects of the discussion.
The blog post “Stop! Don’t Opt Out. Read this first.” is a prime example. https://wrenchinthegears.com/2016/09/15/stop-dont-opt-out-read-this-first/
The last section of the post lists a number of strategies to expand the opt out platform. But unfortunately Mr. Cody did not happen to mention that or link to the post in question, so that people could read the information for themselves.
Thus far over 3,500 people have read the post, and hopefully they took away a new perspectives, a framework for understanding the new phase of ed reform, and some tools they can use to expand the opt out fight to these new battle fronts. There are links to the other associated blog posts at the bottom, so people can read a lot more about it if they wish.
Diane, it would be great if you would consider posting that piece as a complement to Mr. Cody’s. You should also check out the linked document from Knowledgeworks on learning eco-systems that is the image used in the post. It relates to that badging discussion we were having.
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This can only happen if passive parents allow it to happen. Groups of angry parents can stop this.
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I hate to break it to you, but at least one blogger (and probably several more) are fighting against those of us with the same goal–to support children and public schools. Those bloggers call those of us the enemy. It doesn’t make sense to me. For an example, see the post I linked above.
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I am pretty new to all this. I am trying to listen to all parties, and learn from them, and figure out how to advocate effectively in my district. I hope, and trust, that all parties can figure out how to move forward in the interest of children. I believe that opting out remains important. I learn a lot here, and also develop new questions.
For my two cents, as a parent of multiple children, some of them too young for end of year testing, thus far the move to online CBE has been awful and is a menace. For example, children in our public schools are told to spend 5 hours per week for just one subject in online CBE programs and it affects grades.
As far as I can see, but I am not an expert, ESSA has the potential to be disastrous for children. Ed tech companies, with venture capital behind them, are drooling over the prospect of developing innovative assessments under ESSA and then trying them out on our children, pushing them to be online even more during the school day and for homework. I believe that there are smart, dedicated folks who believe that ESSA will foster and lead to innovations via much more humane, less computer based, assessments. That’s great, and I sincerely hope they are right. But, I hope everyone will look closely that those school systems that are already on their way to online CBE (come visit, find parents, find teachers, listen to the experiences, look at the programs being used online – they almost all have demos and creepy advertisements and overblown “research” claims) and help slow down the speeding train, and help prevent it from starting up elsewhere.
Second graders are spending a good chunk of their day with iReady.
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Parent: I welcome you to the fight. We need TONS of parental support. Ignore the politics and fight for your kids and other kids. Thank you for all you do.
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I read the entire post and agree that Diane should either post it here outright or just link to it. Also, your titles could have been just as alarming but far more accurate in describing the content & threats, that was a mistake, especially in an age of clickbait. Remember who your audience is, they already get it even when they are not up to speed on the details and don’t respond well to such provocations.
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Jon,
I did link to the blog post recommended by Digital Skeptic. That was the centerpiece of my post about there being no conflict between opting out and fighting Competence Based Education.
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Jon Lubar,
This post responded to Digital Skeptic’s suggestion, with a link and an extended quote:
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Competency based education isn’t a mirage anymore. It’s here.
Beyond the view of skirmishes now underway across an array of states, is an emerging reality that … in a very short while … this destroying reform will have razed an American institution to a mound of rubble.
And in its place … for as far as the eye can see … will stand drive-thru learning centers offering kiosk-educations from a B. F. Skinner touch-screen that will supply the finger-pointer with all they need to succeed in a life of rich monotony.
That’s what your now titling schools are going to look like. And that’s your child’s purgatory. Dante would have had devilish fun imagining the distinct horror levels of academic hell that await children in their most crucial years.
Kindergarten is now the Boot Camp Moment. Classroom drill instructors seem unbothered shoving 70 month-olds into a rush-hour of academic traffic … because some basement gnome alleges it’s the ideal moment to vaccinate them with “grit” and “rigor”. And these academic tykes are denied recess and songs and giggles … because those would be indicators of unseriousness. And education is, above all else, an extra-serious business. Even for cherubs still ill-at-ease knotting their own sneakers.
The elementary time seems destined to be called the Tablet Years. The Mario Bros. Educational Principles will rule the day as students win points and pile up Magical No. 2 Pencils as they are prompted from one level to the next. Competency-based-education will erase all of those annoying human variables and every learner who reaches Level Extreme will see their names glitter in on-screen pixie dust. And an 8 X 10 screen-shot of that conquering moment will become the new moving-up document.
Middle school will usher in The Skinner Stage … when on-screen accountability and specially-tapered curricula designs will suffocate all of those aggravating teenage twitches and quirks. School magistrates will homogenize this stage of maturity so that no nail stands up … and individuality is mocked as antithetical narcissism that is thoroughly unacceptable. Creativity will be dubbed a day-dreaming activity … time-consuming musing more symptomatic of a sloth than of genius.
High school will be The Divergent Time… when, at long last, the future of every young adult will become crystal clear. Youngsters will be endlessly nudged in this or that career pathway … justified by the overwhelming mounds of data that can be Hansel and Greteled all the way back to the days when joy was first run out of their very brand-new lives.
And at every level, parents will lose more and more control of their children. They will be less and less invited by school authorities to take part in the joy-remembering rites of passage we all associate with growing up. And that is all by design because the very last thing these new educational absolutists want is any mother or father acting as though they have any regency at all over their own child’s education.
Orwell yourself beyond the moment and come to terms with what awaits us all on the horizon of touch-screen scholarship. Huxley yourself into the world of tomorrow when your children will have been programmed and plugged into lifetime situations based not on their passions but on some algorithmic prescription burped out by some electronic-ouija-motherboard.
If you are doubting of this .. and too, too many are … examine what the last half-decade has wrought. In the blink of an eye, schools have been systematically transformed, childhood recalibrated, and parents richly tattooed as adversaries. Government now dictates to the schools, and politicians have morphed into carnival barkers for every profiteer determined to get their slice of the Big Education pie.
And all the while, half-a-generation has already endured this child-abusing gauntlet of educational malpractice as they are guinea-pigged into blazing trails in the brave new world of scholastic madness.
And that is the great tilt. What is it you are going to do about it?
And if you decide to do nothing … then stand ready to watch their lives topple into misery in a very grave new world.
Denis Ian
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” Dante would have had devilish fun imagining the distinct horror levels of academic hell that await children in their most crucial years.”
Why wait for Dante?
The 21st level of hell has already been constructed for the GAGA* Good German teachers and adminimals.
Going Along to Get Along (GAGA): Nefarious practice of most educators who implement the edudeformers agenda even though the educators know that those educational malpractices will cause harm to the students and defile the teaching and learning process. The members of the GAGA gang are destined to be greeted by the Karmic Gods of Retribution upon their passing from this realm.
Karmic Gods of Retribution: Those ethereal beings specifically evolved to construct the 21st level in Dante’s Hell. The 21st level signifies the combination of the 4th (greed), 8th (fraud) and 9th (treachery) levels into one mega level reserved especially for the edudeformers and those, who, knowing the negative consequences of the edudeformers agenda, willing implemented it so as to go along to get along. The Karmic Gods of Retribution also personally escort these poor souls, upon their physical death, to the 21st level unless they enlighten themselves, a la one D. Ravitch, to the evil and harm they have caused so many innocent children, and repent and fight against their former fellow deformers. There the edudeformers and GAGAers will lie down on a floor of smashed and broken ipads and ebooks curled in a fetal position alternately sucking their thumbs to the bones while listening to two words-Educational Excellence-repeated without pause for eternity.
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