A daily reader and commenter who calls him/herself LeftCoastTeacher left the following comment:
I’m off topic, sorry, but I am excited.
Congratulate my students! I have just been able to Opt Out all my English classes from taking the SBAC Interim Assessments. I work in a district with criminals on the board and their deform appointees in administration, so the entire district is being forced to take the computer-based interim assessments made by the Smarter (dumber) (un)Balanced Assessment (not) Consortium (conspiracy), or SBAC. You know those interim tests are just a stepping stone toward Competency Based data collection taking over instruction time completely.
In California, schools and districts are required to inform parents of their right to Opt Out of state tests. So, I went to admin and asked for the form letter to parents before Back to School Night so I could ‘make sure parents are informed of their rights’. Admin said, Gulp. There was some back and forth about whether state law was in play for tests required by the district versus by the federal government. I insisted that California parents always have the right to have their children receive instruction instead of standardized testing, and always have the right to refuse having their children forced to sign in to a website that collects testing data.
I am being granted a waiver Out of the SBAC IAB’s. I get to instead design and implement my own formative assessments. We are going to read — together — some great, whole fiction and poetry (on paper), and write some essays about what we read. On paper. With pens. We will discuss the results — together — and learn from the experience. I won. My students won.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hurray!!!! Good for you! I teach 1st grade in CA, so I am thankfully not forced to give the SBAC, but I DO opt out my own 7th grade son— always have, always will. We all need to spread the word that parents can do this. My district distinctly seems to frown upon teachers letting parents know option.
LCT, your final paragraph is pure, unadulterated (emphasis on the ironic inclusion of “adult”) poetry. I think it sums up what we used to call teaching and learning.
Bravo!!!!!!!!! We need more teachers like you.
REAL PAPER and writing implements, and no screen. What a concept.
LCT, HOORAY for you and your students. OPT OUT!
CBE is a FAILED OLD IDEA.
Wonder why the deformers haven’t attacked the TRADES … you know plumbers, electricians, etc.? Could it be because those yahoos would drown or electricute themselves. and worse? This image made me smile.
I am honored!!!! What a momentous occasion this has been. Thank you, Diane. I wonder how many times I will enjoy reading these comments.
Teachers CAN inform parents of their rights, even in big cities plagued with billionaire meddlers. It has to be done carefully, when the moment is right, but I now know it can be done. The same goes for teaching. One must fall in line and use the standardized tests and test prep for a time, but carefully, tactically, when the moments are right, actual teaching and learning can be slipped into the fray.
LCT, again, good for you and your students. This is more than good news. Go LCT.
Ok, so now, what is your plan for accommodating the students with Reading and Written Expression learning disabilities? (I’m not talking curriculum modifications either, such as “dumbed down” to “disability levels”…)
For the statistical average of 1 in 5 students in your classes….
Ps- it’s yoir choice to teach to the test… and if that’s all you do all year in class that’s because you made that choice…
Heh heh. M! You’re back, and out of remediation. (Thank you, Diane, for not letting M ruin my post yesterday. This post means a lot to me.) It’s called Guided Reading, M. Not Close Reading, Guided Reading. Interactive reading. Grouping helps all too. Specific accommodations are provided as per IEPs suggest. If you, M, were my student, I would accommodate your learning difficulties too. But, you’re not. You are what you are. I am proudly what I am. Peace.
All further debate with you, M, on this subject is closed.
Good work, LeftCoast Teacher!!
Standing ovation!!!
Straight to the Hall of Fame!
Excellent news! I really hope you won more than the battle and aren’t facing a war–something about current politics makes me weary of petty vindictiveness. Congrats
The war goes on. They attack me with lies. I fight back with truth.
To this brave, beautiful person, LeftCoastTeacher, thank you for your courage. These forces that we are dealing with are very powerful. Humbled by your work.
I wish more teachers would do this. I hope that you can start the teacher revolution that is so needed right now. Parents are sensing that things aren’t right (when a parent can’t help their child with the archaic math homework assignment, it makes them stop and think!). The teachers NEED to take the lead now. Now is the time!
Caring for kids will eventually triumph over this standards and testing insanity. The day will come when people will look back on this as a very dark era that we went through. Bill Gates, bless him, really doesn’t have evil intentions. He has a good heart. It just kills me, in fact, that a man with such intentions doesn’t get it, and that courageous people like LeftCoastTeacher have to lay themselves on the line to protect kids from his good intentions. I believe, with all my heart, that he has good intentions. However, it’s difficult, at the age of 55 or 56, to learn something new. I pray for him.
I pray for Bill Gates to receive a big kick in the A$$ from Karma! I’m 53 and I still learn new things every day. No, he’s greedy and knows how to work the system to his best advantage. This is a money making endeavor for him…same for what happens with all the money invested into Africa.
Dear LeftCoastTeacher, I am SO happy for you and the knowledge that your students will now achieve. Congratulations on working to help the children in your classes learn something meaningful!!!!
This is fantastic news!!!
(Retired music teacher in Indiana.)
“I get to instead design and implement my own formative assessments. We are going to read — together — some great, whole fiction and poetry (on paper), and write some essays about what we read. On paper. With pens. We will discuss the results — together — and learn from the experience.” YAAAAY
What a concept: You know what you want kids to learn and be able to do* that is meaningful and relevant; you plan it and teach it; YOU design quizzes, tests, projects, assessments… to see if YOUR kids learned it or not (and why); you keep teaching based on the kids’ learning.
Not exactly rocket science (even if you’re teaching rocket science).
btw
isn’t it odd that formal standardized interim tests only became a thing when there was a profit motive?
Teachers have been assessing kids all year long like forever – and yes even to be prepared for a state test — but when did we decide that a Friday quiz or an end of unit essay had to be standardized with some vendor brand on the cover$?
“…when did we decide that a Friday quiz or an end of unit essay had to be standardized with some vendor brand on the cover$?”
And when did we decide that such tests could better inform our instruction than assessments that we designed ourselves? Congratulations, LCT!
*LOVE THIS! *
This is the BEST news I’ve heard in a long time! YEAH! Good work! Everyone should emulate this BRAVE person! Congratulations! This should go into every major CA newspaper.
Every CA Teachers should be motivated to do the same.
There is nothing in CA law that can make a child take this test.
In 2013 Barbara Murchinson, CA Common Core implementation, stated in the Daily News:
“Opponents who see the Common Core as an attack on local control have had a hard time getting heard here. California school boards have the right to opt out of the Common Core, says Barbara Murchison, who heads up the state’s implementation program.”
“There is nothing at the state level that requires them to do it.”
http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20131015/california-more-accepting-of-common-core-education-overhaul-than-other-states
AND the CA Constitution was amended in 1972 to give Districts Local Control:
“In 1972, however, the voters amended the California Constitution. As a result, the general rule has been altered only for school districts. Thus, laws relating to local schools occupy a unique constitutional position.”
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/cl/localcontrol.asp
Thank you all!
This is a wonderful victory for you and your students. Real learning and thinking! Congratulations.
This is wonderful! Congratulations!! I am still a little confused- did the admin just flat out allow you to opt your classes out because you brought it up or did you get so many parents to request an opt out for their student in writing that it became all of your classes anyway? I’m asking because if another teacher wanted to do this what would net the same result? Maybe you have bold admin and they were just waiting to be asked! However it happened- hurray!
Glad you asked. Admin hadn’t planned on informing parents of their right to Opt Out of the interim assessments mid-year, but only of the federally required summative assessments in April-May. I presented admin with a choice: waive the interim assessments or be forced to inform parents of their rights when I can encourage them to Opt Out, during winter. Informing parents of their rights during winter could have made my classroom ground zero of an Opt Out movement in my school. Admin chose the path of least resistance and waived the requirement for my classes. It’s unfortunate that the parents of my students will not be informed for the winter interims, but at least they won’t have to. They will be informed by form letter in April for the mandatory tests, but I will be unable at that time to encourage them to Opt Out. Too risky. Long story short, parents have not had to do anything. One day, maybe I can figure out a way to encourage parents to Opt Out of the mandated April-May formative tests. One day…
Thank you for this explanation. You are a bold and brave role model for teachers who want their students out of the current process. Advocacy at it’s best- one person at a time!
I just noticed a mistake. The April-May tests are summative, not formative. Oh, well.
So much often depends upon each individual school: in our city administrators (and the fear of district intervention) control what might actually happen in each school should a teacher take steps against testing/reform. In some schools even the act of bringing the subject “up” can bring punitive action.
My admin was told by upper admin to deny requests for waivers. The person with whom I was speaking is a good person with head on shoulders. I’m unfortunate and also fortunate.
CONGRATULATIONS! Students and parents owe you a giant “Thank You.”
Thank you LeftCoast Teacher, may many more follow your lead!
Fight the good fight.