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Students in Bloomington and Normal, Illinois, Join to Oppose PARCC Tests

By dianeravitch
February 28, 2015 //
20

High school students in Bloomington and Normal, Illinois, have organized a student union to oppose PARCC. it is called the Blono Student Union.

In a statement, these super-smart students said:

PARCC Refusal Campaign

Refusing the PARCC

An effective way to resist standardized testing is to simply not participate in it; refusing state tests is a common, legal strategy used all over the nation. Students and parents around the country are becoming more and more fed up with the excessive testing in our public schools, causing a massive opt-out/refusal movement.

Illinois State Board of Education does not explicitly recognize opt-outs; however, students have the right to refuse to take state tests in Illinois. Parents are encouraged to notify the principal and superintendent in writing that their child will be refusing. To send a notice of refusal for your child, see our letter template here.

Illinois State Board of Education recognizes that students may refuse testing. Refusing will have no negative academic consequences for students, and despite what ISBE says, will not result in loss of funding. See our full explanation of refusal rights and implications here.

What Is The PARCC Test?

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test is the new Common Core standardized test that will be used for state level accountability measures. This test will replace the ISAT for elementary schools and PSAE for high schools. This year (spring 2015) is the first time the PARCC is being administered. In Unit 5, the PARCC will be administered to students in grades 3-8 and high school students that are enrolled in English II and Geometry (or have previously taken geometry). PARCC is expected to take up just under double the amount of time the ISAT and PSAE assessments took respectively. See full testing times here. Testing dates will be sometime between March 9 to April 3, 2015 and April 27 to May 22, 2015.

In future years, the PARCC is intended to be a state graduation requirement for 11 graders and is intended to be available to use for college entrance, in addition to being administered in elementary/junior high. These policies are not in place yet. 2015 is a baseline year, so the PARCC will have no consequences for schools or students.

Why Are We Against It?

Since No Child Left Behind was passed, testing in schools has become overused and overemphasized. Excessive testing takes away from classroom time for authentic teaching and learning. Especially in elementary schools, test preparation takes even more away from instructional time. This leads to loss of curiosity and creativity. Emphasis on these tests also leads to a narrowed curriculum, taking focus away from untested subjects.

We reject the use of test scores to dictate the success of schools, students, and teachers. This only induces competition between schools through the means of a less rigorous learning experience for students. These scores are not representative of a student’s growth, as they only test a narrow set of skills. Also, some students get anxiety upon taking these tests, and some students are just better test takers. Standardized testing primarily measures a district’s socio-economic characteristics; wealthier districts, with access to more resources, score higher on tests. Attaching high stakes to these tests only perpetuates inequity.

PARCC has shown to be poorly designed and developmentally inappropriate for each grade level. Also, administration of the PARCC is extremely costly. With the abundant amount of technology needed, some districts in Illinois are struggling to finance the administration of the PARCC. A week of PARCC testing means a prolonged use of schools’ resources; computer labs will be closed off for testing and not available to any student that needs to use them, which is especially problematic in the high schools. And since the test is highly dependent on computer skills, some students are left at a disadvantage.

More reliable and effective forms of alternative, performance-based assessment are available. Proponents claim that the PARCC allows to compare students around the nation; however, fourteen out of twenty-five states have already dropped the PARCC in the past year.

To read more about the flaws with the PARCC, click here.

Other Resistances to the PARCC

Parents and students around the country are refusing testing in record numbers. Specifically, people are taking action against the PARCC more than ever. There are only ten states left that are administering the PARCC; among them are increasingly large refusal/opt-out movements.

There is already widespread opposition to the PARCC in Illinois; Chicago public school district has expressed concern with administering the PARCC, over 40 superintendents in Illinois urged the state to delay administration of the PARCC, and one superintendent in Illinois even wrote a warning letter to parents and community members about the PARCC . Meanwhile, Chicago parents and students are actively organizing to refuse the PARCC. If more communities in Illinois organize together and speak up, we will not be ignored.

By uniting in opposition locally, we can add our voice to a nation full of teachers boycotting tests, parents opting their kids out, and students walking out of tests. We are in the midst of a wave of resistance to standardized testing in order to reclaim our public schools. Join the movement. Refuse the PARCC.

Refusal Rights

Students have the right to refuse state tests. Illinois State Board of Education acknowledges that students may refuse to participate in testing. ISBE provides a list of reasons for not testing for districts to use when stating why a student has not taken a state-required test (medically exempt, homebound, in jail, etc.) Code 15 on this list is refusal. It is state mandated that districts administer the PARCC, but there is no legal way that a school can force a student to test. For younger students and students with special needs, parents can notify the school of their child’s refusal to ensure that the student will be treated fairly and not compelled to test after refusal.

The district will not lose funding if a large amount of students refuse to test. This is a baseline year for PARCC testing (meaning the data will just be used to establish cut scores since this is the first year it is being administered), so ISBE has stated that there will be no consequences for schools or students this year. There will also be no federal penalties since students that refuse to test will be marked by code 15 of reasons for not testing; code 15 does not count against the school’s adequate yearly progress participation rate. No Child Left Behind requires that schools test 95% of their students in order to make adequate yearly process; however, Illinois is one of the forty one states that has a waiver from the US Department of Education that eliminates sanctions brought to schools that don’t make adequate yearly progress. There is also no federal or state law that requires penalties for schools or districts if parents/students opt out or refuse the test.

No student will be penalized for refusing to test. Students cannot be penalized for exercising their refusal rights. There is no basis for any state agent to take any action against parents’ and students’ explicit refusal, and/or take any action that causes the student emotional, psychological, and/or physical harm against their refusal. Also, there are no academic consequences for refusing. PARCC has no effect on students’ grades, and it is not a state graduation requirement for high school students this year. Again, this is a baseline year, so there will be no consequences for students.

Send a Notice of Refusal

Notice of Refusal

Your Name:

Your Email:

Child’s Name:

Child’s School:

Letter:

Dear Principal,

My child, [CHILD’S NAME], will be refusing to participate in PARCC testing this spring. I am fully aware of my child’s right to refuse state testing, and as my minor child’s legal representative, I am informing you that he/she will not be taking the PARCC this March and May.

I expect my child to be treated with kindness and respect upon this decision, and be allowed a meaningful learning opportunity, or be able to read or do other work as other students test. No state agent should harass, intimidate, or attempt to force my child to test after he/she has respectfully refused.

Please respect this decision and have your staff treat my child appropriately upon this notice of my child’s refusal.

The school should code my child’s test as Reason 15 for not testing (refusal) so that this refusal will not count against the school.

Thank you for your support,
[YOUR NAME]

[To read all the links, open the students’ statement.]

Categories Common Core, Illinois, Resistance, Students, Testing

Louisiana: Please Go Away

By dianeravitch
February 27, 2015 //
2

Politico gives
us the latest crazy update about “education” in Louisiana. Why don’t the politicians just go away and let teachers teach?

“BUDGET CLASH ON THE BAYOU: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal releases his budget proposal today – and teachers and parents are anxious. Louisiana faces big-time fiscal woes [http://politi.co/1zL24uY ] that will require deep cuts. And Jindal has made clear he’s furious with many of Superintendent John White’s policies, including implementing the Common Core and using PARCC questions in the state tests. Put those two dynamics together and you’ve got a sizzling stew of rumors that education will take a big hit. Kristy Nichols, Jindal’s commissioner of administration, wouldn’t divulge budget details, but she told Morning Education that she and the governor “do have concerns with how much the department is spending on standardized tests.” Nichols said “there will be reductions” to education but added that White will have discretion in managing the cuts. “We cannot say it won’t have any impact,” Nichols said. “That will be up to the superintendent.”

– Before he even saw the numbers, White was fighting back. In a press call earlier this week, he scoffed at the idea that he could reduce spending simply by cutting tests aligned to the Common Core. “It is important to know that accountability and standardized testing are the laws of this state,” he said. “You cannot eliminate them by virtue of not putting them in the budget.” White also pointed out that scrapping the annual tests would violate No Child Left Behind and jeopardize $800 million in federal funding for Louisiana schools. “That would be crippling,” he said.

– Jindal’s chief of staff, Stafford Palmieri, shot back with a statement accusing White of threatening calamity if he didn’t get his way with the Common Core. “John White and President Obama want to bully moms and dads into accepting Common Core’s federal control of our children’s education,” she said. “We’re not going to be intimidated by their fear tactics.”

– In related news, a federal judge has ruled that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s case against the federal government over the Common Core has a right to be heard in court. The ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case, merely allowing the case to move forward. A hearing is set for May 28 in Baton Rouge. The ruling: http://politico.pro/1wtdtny. Jindal also railed against the Common Core at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday: http://politi.co/1Dw25GX.”

Categories Common Core, Louisiana

Jon Pelto: Common Core Test Designed to Fail Most Students

By dianeravitch
February 27, 2015 //
34

Jonathan Pelto reports that 70% of students will fail the Common Core test called Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC); the tests were designed to “fail” 70% of students, as is the PARCC test. Both Common Core tests are aligned with the “cut scores” (passing marks) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP “proficient” is set very high; Massachusetts is the only state where 50% of students rate proficient on NAEP.

Pelto points out that 90% of students with special needs are expected to fail SBAC.

Categories Common Core, Special Education, Testing

New Jersey: A Ray of Hope Against PARCC

By dianeravitch
February 27, 2015 //
9

Thanks to the dedication of parents, students, and educators, the legislators in Néw Jersey are listening. Citizen action works! Protest works! Organize, mobilize, demand what is right for children and good education.

Reader LG reports:

“On Monday, the NJ Assembly voted YES in a landslide to delay the use of PARCC testing for three years. The uses cited would impact student placement, student graduation and teacher evaluation. Next the bill goes on to the senate for discussion and vote.

“This does not necessarily eliminate the PARCC in NJ, at least this year, but I predict a disaster after the PARCC results come in and then a parental pushback so large that the legislators will cave and dump the test.

“At our NJEA Legislative a Conference last Saturday, we heard from a senator who feels there needs to be a moratorium but who also feels that three years might be too much. The assembly sure didn’t feel that way. Regarding the opt out bill, we shall see.”

Categories Common Core, New Jersey, Opt Out, Resistance, Testing

Ohio: Anti-Testing Sentiment Growing

By dianeravitch
February 26, 2015 //
12

The Cincinnatti Enquirer reports the growing anger against Common Core testing among parents, teachers, and superintendents.

Ohio proves that opposition to the Common Core is not limited to the Tea Party. Nor is support. One of the strongest supporters of Common Core is conservative Republican Governor John Kasich.

“More area school parents are taking a “none of the above” stance and yanking their kids from what they say is excessive new testing.

“And some area school superintendents are joining them by taking rare, public positions in opposition to state education officials’ backing of new Common Core-inspired testing for grades three through 12 in Ohio.”

“More kids are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Teachers are putting more pressure on the kids and teachers are worried because the new testing is part of their job evaluations,” said Jay Meyer, a Kings Schools parent who allowed his high school teen to opt out of the new exams.

“Overall, Ohio students this school year – depending on their grade – have seen a sharp increase in the number of exams and practice tests, most driven by the state’s adoption of Common Core standards. For some grades and academic subjects – language arts, math, science and social studies – testing, including practice exams, have nearly tripled from five to 14.

“The state is using new math and English tests this year supplied by the multi-state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The tests are based on the Common Core learning standards.

“Parents are allowed to opt out of testing by informing their local schools in writing.”

The reason for all this testing is to raise scores on international tests, but none of the high-performing nations test every child every year. Standards don’t raise test scores. Instruction does. Tests don’t raise test scores; they are a measure, not a remedy.

Our policymakers are ill-informed, know nothing of education research, and lack common sense.

Categories Common Core, Opt Out, Testing

Portland, Oregon, Teachers Oppose Common Core Test

By dianeravitch
February 26, 2015 //
15

Teachers in Portland, Oregon, voted in opposition to administering the Smarter Balanced Assessment. The best part of the resolution calls on the superintendent, the school board, and principals to take the test and publicly release their scores!

“About 70 Portland Association of Teachers representatives from schools across the district voted to approve the resolution Wednesday night, said PAT President Gwen Sullivan. The resolution was crafted by a union committee and references the Oregon Education Association’s vote last spring for a moratorium on administering the test.

“”It’s not just going against something, it’s about what we’re for,” she said. “It was even more of a symbol of (what) people honestly feel about this particular issue. Teachers do not support this test.”

“The resolution references multiple concerns with the test, such as predictions that approximately 65 percent of students will fail this year and that Smarter Balanced test scores have not yet been determined to be valid or reliable. The resolution also points out the millions of federal and state dollars that have been allocated for test design and implementation.

“The resolution calls for PAT members to speak and petition about the amount of time students will spend preparing and taking the test. Members are also encouraged to hold parent informational sessions about Smarter Balanced and opting out and practice sessions for parents and teachers to take the test.

“The PAT also asks for Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith, school board members and principals take the Smarter Balanced test and publicly release their scores. The school board is encouraged to quit using standardized test scores to make decisions, the resolution states.”

Here is a video clip of the President of the Portland Association of Teachers speaking out about teacher concerns regarding the Smarter Balanced Assessment at last week’s school board hearing:


Categories Common Core, Teachers, Testing

Missouri Judge Blocks Payment to Common Core Connsortium

By dianeravitch
February 25, 2015 //
9

A judge in Missiuri blocked state payment to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, agreeing with critics that SBAC is ““an unlawful interstate compact to which the U.S. Congress has never consented,”

Categories Common Core, Missouri, Testing

Gary Rubinstein: How Many Students Are “Trapped in Failing Schools”?

By dianeravitch
February 24, 2015 //
10

Gary Rubinstein deconstructed the claim made by the NYC charter industry that 143,000 students are “trapped in failing schools.”

As Rubinstein shows, a billionaire-backed group called “Families for Excellent Schools” decided arbitrarily that any school where less than 10% passed the new Common Core test was a “failing school.” He points out that only 30% “passed” the Common Core tests (including charter schools, which had the same pass rate as public schools). If Families for Excellent Schools had used a 20% pass rate instead of 10%, he notes, then FES could have bemoaned the “Forgotten Three-Quarters.”

Rubinstein discovered that 90% of the parents in the 371 schools arbitrarily labeled “failing” would recommend their school to other parents. Obviously, the parents don’t believe their children are “trapped.”

The claim about “children trapped in failung schools” comes from a “report” by the Walton Family-funded “Families for Excellent Schools.” This is the same group that hastily raised and spent $5-6 million last year to stop Mayor Bill de Blasio’s effort to charge rent to charter schools using public space. With money spent so freely on the airwaves and in Albany, Governor Cuomo adopted charter schools as his cause (only 3% of the state’s students attend charter schools). With his support, the Legislature passed a bill requiring NYC to provide free space in public schools to charters and to pay their rent if they located in private space.

“

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Harlem Success Academy, New York City

Take Your Choice: The Testing Status Quo or Opt Out?

By dianeravitch
February 22, 2015 //
28

The New York Times is convinced that No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have been a great success, and the editorial board urges Congress to stick with annual high-stakes testing. The editorial is couched in terms of the wonderful things that have happened to children of color, echoing the “reform” theme of testing as a “civil right.” This editorial is so out of touch with reality that it is hard to know where to begin. States are now beginning to test little children for 10-12 hours to see if they can read and do math; the amount of testing and the stakes attached to it are not found in any high-performing nation in the world, only here. The billions of dollars now devoted to standardized testing is obscene, especially when many of children who need help the most are in overcrowded classes and in states that have slashed the budget and/or opened charter schools and handed out vouchers to drain funding away from the public schools.

 

For a different point of view, read Carol Burris’s strong article about why it is time for civil disobedience, why parents should refuse to allow their children to take the tests.

 

Burris writes:

 

It has become increasingly clear that Congress does not have the will to move away from annual high-stakes testing. The bizarre notion that subjecting 9-year-olds to hours of high-stakes tests is a “civil right,” is embedded in the thinking of both parties. Conservatives no longer believe in the local, democratic control of our schools. Progressives refuse to address the effects of poverty, segregation and the destruction of the middle class on student learning. The unimaginative strategy to improve achievement is to make standardized tests longer and harder.

 

And then there are the Common Core State Standards. Legislators talk a good game to appease parents, but for all their bluff and bluster, they are quite content to use code names, like the West Virginia Next Generation Content Standards, to trick their constituents into believing their state standards are unique, even though most are word for word from the Common Core.

 

The only remedy left to parents is to refuse to have their children take the tests. Testing is the rock on which the policies that are destroying our local public schools are built. If our politicians do not have the courage to reverse high-stakes testing, then those who care must step in. As professor of Language and Composition, Ira Shor, bluntly stated:

 

Because our kids cannot defend themselves, we have to defend them. We parents must step in to stop it. We should put our foot down and say, “Do it to your own kids first before you experiment on ours!”

 

In contrast to the New York Times, which argues for the status quo on grounds of helping minority students, Burris sharply argues:

 

The alleged benefit of annual high stakes testing was to unveil the achievement gaps, and by doing so, close them. All that has been closed are children’s neighborhood schools. In a powerful piece in the Huffington Post, Fairfield University Professor Yohuru Williams argues that annual high-stakes testing feeds racial determinism and closes doors of opportunity for black and brown children.

 

Last year, Alan Aja and I presented evidence on how the Common Core and its tests are hurting, not helping, disadvantaged students. (The links to both articles are in Burris’s article.)

 

Burris concludes:

 

I am a rule follower by nature. I have never gotten a speeding ticket. I patiently wait my turn in lines. I am the product of 12 years of Catholic schools–raised in a blue-collar home where authority was not to be questioned. I was the little girl who always colored in the lines.

 

But there comes a time when rules must be broken — when adults, after exhausting all remedies, must be willing to break ranks and not comply. That time is now. The promise of a public school system, however imperfectly realized, is at risk of being destroyed. The future of our children is hanging from testing’s high stakes. The time to Opt Out is now.

Categories Accountability, Common Core, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Opt Out, Testing

Peter Greene Takes the PARCC Test

By dianeravitch
February 20, 2015 //
17

Peter Greene is a problem for me. He can easily toss off two or three hilarious, original posts every day, and I can’t keep up with him. I keep trying. So ignore the original publication date.

In this post, he live blogs the experience of taking a sample PARCC test. What strikes him and the reader is that the questions are often confusing and usually very boring.

This is how he begins:

“Today, I’m trying something new. I’ve gotten myself onto the PARCC sample item site and am going to look at the ELA sample items for high school. This set was updated in March of 2014, so, you know, it’s entirely possible they are not fully representative, given that the folks at Pearson are reportedly working tirelessly to improve testing so that new generations of Even Very Betterer Tests can be released into the wild, like so many majestic lion-maned dolphins.

“So I’m just going to live blog this in real-ish time, because we know that one important part of measuring reading skill is that it should not involve any time for reflection and thoughtful revisiting of the work being read. No, the Real Readers of this world are all Wham Bam Thank You Madam Librarian, so that’s how we’ll do this. There appear to be twenty-three sample items, and I have two hours to do this, so this could take a while. You’ve been warned.”

The first six questions are about DNA. Greene screams with frustration as he imagines his students tuning out.

If you want to know what our government spent $180 million to develop, read this. It may be coming to your children or students.

Categories Common Core, Testing
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