Archives for category: Opt Out
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Illinois: Don’t Believe It When They Tell You Not to Opt Out

By dianeravitch
March 30, 2016 //
10

A former Chicago Public Schools teacher left a comment and referred to this article, which features one of her students. He is organizing a boycott of PARCC. Illinois offers no “formal” way to opt out; the decision is left to children. Some schools are threatening punishments of various kinds, and school officials imply that the tests have been improved. They say, for example, that the results will arrive in the summer, instead of the fall, when there is still time to help children. On the face of it, that claim is ridiculous. The child is not in school in the summer, for starters. He or she won’t have the same teacher by the time the results come in. Worse, there is nothing in the results that will “help” the teachers or the children. How are children “helped” by learning that they have scored a 1, 2, 3, or 4? How will they be helped if they learned what percentile they scored it? This is all nonsense, which is why students and parents should opt out and demand an end of this massive waste of money and instructional time.

 

This week, when state standardized testing begins at many CPS schools, at least one sixth-grader at Sumner Elementary School will be sitting out PARCC.

 

“I’m going to refuse PARCC next week because we haven’t had typing classes,” Diontae Chatman told the Board of Education last week, missing school for the first time all year so he could testify.

 

“We didn’t have a qualified math teacher from September to January,” he added. Plus last year, students taking the test online were logged on and off repeatedly, among other problems.

 

But skipping the test, even though state law allows it, could bring about consequences that feel unfair to children.

 

“My school is threatening to take away our field day to students who refuse PARCC,” Diontae explained. “I think we all should get treated the same way, if we take it or if we don’t take it.”

 

Once again, neither Chicago Publics Schools nor the Illinois State Board of Education have any specific directive for how schools should treat children who refuse to take the exam between now and May 15.

 

Meanwhile, the district is urging all parents to participate in the test, saying PARCC provides useful detailed data.

 

“PARCC is a mandatory exam and the district’s failure to implement the exam does have serious consequences” that are financial, Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said. “We’re making a lot of short-term fixes, so we can’t afford any reduction in financing from the state as a result of our failure to administer the test.”

 

PARCC — the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers — is given to third- through eighth-graders and some high schoolers. Aligned to Common Core standards, it aims to show how well students are preparing for college at each grade level. Though PARCC was designed to be interactive and taken on a computer, CPS’ third- and fourth-graders still will take a paper version.

 

PARCC still carries no consequences at CPS, which uses a separate test to evaluate teachers and schools.

 

For its second year, PARCC has been shortened. It has a simpler format, and results have been promised much sooner than last year — by the summer, rather than late autumn, so that teachers and parents can actually use the results.

 

Those improvements still won’t stop a number of families in Chicago from skipping it.

 

 

[Some readers said the link doesn’t work; this works for me: https://r-login.wordpress.com/remote-login.php?action=auth&host=chicago.suntimes.com&id=107184512&back=http%3A%2F%2Fchicago.suntimes.com%2Fnews%2Fparcc-test-no-opt-out-policy%2F&h=]

 

PARCC Testing Begins, But Still No Opt Out Policy, in the Chicago Sun-Times

 

 

Categories Chicago, Common Core, Education Reform, Illinois, Opt Out, Standardized Testing

The False Claim that Teachers’ Unions Are Behind the Parents’ Opt Out Movement

By dianeravitch
March 30, 2016 //
36

The tabloid press in New York City, which has consistently supported corporate reform, such as charters and high-stakes testing, regularly claims in its editorials that the parents’ opt out movement is secretly funded and manipulated by teachers’ unions.

 

This is absolutely untrue. There are teachers involved in the opt out movement, but as individuals and parents, not as representatives of their unions. When Karen Magee, the president of the New York State teachers’ union, endorsed opt out last spring, right before the testing started, it was big news. (My blog got the biggest one-day readership in its history [about 140,000 views in one day] when I reported Magee’s decision).

 

The New York City United Federation of Teachers never endorsed opt out, never funded it.

 

Please, editorial writers for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and yes, even the New York Times, please take note: The opt out movement is parent-led, parent-organized, and depends on parents for its energy and passion. It is not union-led, union-funded, or union-controlled. In short, the opt out movement is a grassroots uprising against the absurd emphasis on standardized tests that consume instructional time without any benefit to students and without providing any useful information to teachers.

 

 

Categories Opt Out, Parents, Testing, Unions

Marla Kilfoyle: Why You Should Refuse the Tests in 2016

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2016 //
7

Marla Kilfoyle is a teacher in Long Island and executive director of the BATS. She has endless energy in the struggle to improve our schools for all children.

 

She created this short video, which explains why you should opt out in 2016. Marla calls it “Don’t Back Down.”

 

This video and many others are a tribute to the power of social media to spread messages of support and hope to parents and teachers who want what is best for children.

Categories Opt Out

New York City: Teachers Warned Not to Speak About Opting Out

By dianeravitch
March 25, 2016 //
71

While the state of New York is scrambling to respond to the outraged parents who opted out of state tests last year, New York City is threatening teachers who dare to speak about opting out.

 

Last spring, 20% of the state’s eligible students opted out (about a quarter million students), but the numbers were much lower in New York City. Some attribute this to the fear of losing funding. Whatever the reason, less than 2% of students in New York City refused the tests.

 

The city wants to keep the numbers low.

 

According to the New York Times:

 

At a forum in December, Anita Skop, the superintendent of District 15 in Brooklyn, which had the highest rate of test refusals in the city last year, said that for an educator to encourage opting out was a political act and that public employees were barred from using their positions to make political statements.
On March 7, the teachers at Public School 234 in TriBeCa, where only two students opted out last year, emailed the school’s parents a broadside against the tests. The email said the exams hurt “every single class of students across the school” because of the resources they consumed.

 

But 10 days later, when dozens of parents showed up for a PTA meeting where they expected to hear more about the tests, the teachers were nowhere to be seen. The school’s principal explained that “it didn’t feel safe” for them to speak, adding that their union had informed them that their email could be considered insubordination. The principal, Lisa Ripperger, introduced an official from the Education Department who was there to “help oversee our meeting.”

 

Several principals said they had been told by either the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, or their superintendents that they and their teachers should not encourage opting out. There were no specific consequences mentioned, but the warnings were enough to deter some educators.

 

Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said that teachers were free to express themselves on matters of public concern as private citizens, but not as representatives of the department, and that if they crossed that line they could be disciplined. Asked what the disciplinary measures might be, Ms. Kaye said they were determined case by case.

 

“I don’t think that the teachers’ putting themselves in the middle of it is a good idea,” Ms. Fariña said in an interview.

 

 

Categories Farina, Carmen, New York City, Opt Out, Parents

Parents Applaud Election of Betty Rosa as Chancellor of New York Board of Regents

By dianeravitch
March 25, 2016 //
7

Parents in New York are thrilled by the ascent of Dr. Betty Rosa as Chancellor of the New York Board of Regents.

 

They know that she is knowledgeable, experienced, and sensitive to the needs of children with disabilities and English language learners.

 

They know she has openly supported the parents who opt their children out of state testing that is too long, developmentally inappropriate, and invalid. Whereas the previous chancellor, Merryl Tisch, vocally supported the Common Core and the high-stakes testing, Rosa has made her skepticism clear. Tisch insisted that the state tests provide important information to help children, but parents and teachers know that a score of 1, 2, 3, or 4 is not useful information, nor is it helpful to know what percentile rank your child or student has.

 

Rosa has also actively supported vigorous state action to protect the mostly-minority children of East Ramapo, whose school board is dominated by orthodox Jews whose own children are not in public schools and who have starved the public schools of resources to keep taxes low.

 

“Bravo, Betty,” lohud commenter Teddy Gross said on an article reporting the chancellor-elect’s support for the testing opt-out movement.

 

The chancellor-elect expressed support for opt-out parents, just weeks before the grade 3-8 assessment tests are to begin. Citing her own two, now grown children, Rosa told the Capitol Pressroom radio show that one of her kids found testing stressful. “As a family, we would make a decision about my two children,” she said Tuesday, expressing concern about whether she could be certain that the tests had “an entry point where my child would feel successful with it.”

 

 

While Rosa has criticized both tying teacher evaluations to test scores and Common Core, Tisch championed a rapid-fire implementation of Common Core standards and bought into high-stakes testing. Their backgrounds also couldn’t be more different: Tisch has devoted much time, and family wealth, to civic and philanthropic endeavors; Rosa, the first Latina chancellor, was born in New York City but raised partly in Puerto Rico, and later worked as a teacher and administrator. One overlap: Both have Ivy League Ph.Ds.

 

The state has already made changes to this year’s standardized testing regimen, with shorter tests and unlimited time allowed. The Regents also voted to stop using state test scores for teacher evaluations for the next few years — only data-centric Tisch voted against the move.

 

Who is Betty Rosa? Read her official biography here on the Regents’ website.

 

 

 

Categories Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Testing

New York: Teachers Speak Out, and Parent Applauds

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2016 //
18

A parent in New York asked me to recognize the wisdom and courage of the district’s teachers.

I am glad to do so and to place the Corning Teachers’ Association on the honor roll of this blog for supporting the rights of parents and the interests of students.

 

 

Here is her letter:

 

 

“The Corning Teachers’ Association sent the following position statement to all members. As a parent in the Corning-Painted Post School District, I am grateful for their courage to share facts regarding NYS Grades 3-8 standardized testing.
“The CTA memorandum is an example of what needs to happen across NYS if teachers want REAL change instead of relying on empty promises outlined in the NYSED “tool kits”, flyers, and rhetoric from Commissioner Elia.
“Until there is REAL change in NYS classrooms, the opt outs MUST continue. Teachers supporting parents who are refusing the NYS standardized tests are supporting children and the future of public education.
“Will you please consider posting the CTA Position Statement on your blog? It is with hope that teacher associations in other school districts across NYS will have the courage to do the same.

“THANK YOU for all that you do every day to support children and educators!

“Kind regards,

“Lynn Leonard

“M E M O R A N D U M

 

“TO: Members of the Corning Teachers’ Association
FROM: CTA Executive Council
DATE: March 18, 2016
RE: New York State grades 3-8 Testing Position Statement

“We, the members of the Corning Teachers’ Association believe in academic rigor supported by engagement and the enchantment of learning. We believe that it is our responsibility to provide sound educational practices for our students, and we are to be held accountable to these practices.

 

“We believe that a strong curriculum provides time and resources for social and emotional development, practical skills, project-based and authentic learning opportunities, deep exploration of subject matters as well as a focus on social and cultural concerns. Our ultimate goal is to foster a high-quality public education system that prepares all students for college, careers, citizenship and lifelong learning, thus strengthening our social and economic well-being.

 

“We believe that the large amount of learning time that is lost through administration of these high-stakes test is not what is best for children. Mandated New York State standardized testing is an inadequate, limited and often unreliable measure for student learning. While we acknowledge that the test results are currently not tied to a teacher’s evaluation, teachers are still not given the professional freedom to design or score such tests. The delayed results are not available for use to drive further instruction or give meaningful feedback to the stakeholders.

 

“We believe that New York’s children belong to their families. We support the right of parents and guardians to choose to absent their children from any or all state and federal-mandated testing. We support the right of teachers to discuss freely with parents and guardians their rights and responsibilities with respect to such testing.

 

“The Corning Teachers’ Association will, to the best of its ability, protect and support members who may suffer the negative consequences as a result of speaking about their views of such testing or about the rights and obligations of parents and guardians with respect to such testing.”

 

Categories Education Reform, Honor Roll, New York, Opt Out, Parents, Standardized Testing, Teachers and Teaching

Rosa: “I Would Opt Out”

By dianeravitch
March 21, 2016 //
17

Betty Rosa, the newly elected chancellor of the New York Regents, met with reporters after her election. 
When asked, she said that if she were a parent and not a member of the Regents, she would opt her. Her children are grown. 
In a secret ballot, Rosa received 15 votes, with two abstentions.
It is a new day in New York. Rosa’s election is a sharp rebuke to the corporate reformers who have controlled the state for many years.

Categories Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Resistance

That Bald Piano Guy Sings Again

By dianeravitch
March 20, 2016 //
4

Here is another wonderful parody by the Bald Piano Guy, borrowing a Billy Joel song.

 

“It’s Still Opting Out for Me.”

 

Enjoy!

Categories Education Reform, Humor, Opt Out, Standardized Testing

Sandra Stotsky: Opting Out is a Civic Duty, Not Civil Disobedience

By dianeravitch
March 19, 2016 //
8

Sandra Stotsky was responsible for the development of standards, assessments, and teacher tests when she was an official in the Massachusetts Department of Education in the 1990s. She has since become an outspoken critic of the Common Core standards.

 

In this article, she argues that parents should ignore attempts to bully them into taking the state tests. She says that opting out of mandated tests is a civic duty. I don’t agree with her that the money spent on the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act was wasted. In my book “Reign of Error,” I showed that there has been dramatic improvement in the scores of black and Hispanic students since the early 1970s, when the federal testing (National Assessment of Educational Progress) began. But I agree with Stotsky that the millions and billions spent on testing has been wasted.

 

She writes:

 

“If Common Core’s standards and tests are, as it is claimed, so much better than whatever schools were using before, why not use them only for low-achieving, low-income kids and let them catch up? Why can’t Congress amend ESSA to exempt students already at or above grade level in reading and mathematics and target ESSA funds to curriculum materials, teachers, and tests for just the kids who need a boost? That’s just the beginning. Maybe a different use of federal money is also needed.”

 

 

– See more at: http://newbostonpost.com/2016/03/16/opting-out-a-civic-duty-not-civil-disobedience/#sthash.RtytITBa.dpuf

Categories Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Opt Out, Resistance, Standardized Testing

Opt Out Truck Coming To A Neighborhood Near You

By dianeravitch
March 12, 2016 //
11

This roving opt-out billboard can be seen driving around New York.  If you see it, give a honk of support. The truck and billboard are sponsored by New York State Allies for Public Education, a coalition of 50 parent and educator groups. NYSAPE led the historic opt out movement last spring, which persuaded the families of some 220,000 or more students to opt out of the state tests. State officials were stunned. Governor Cuomo created a task force to help him get out of the mess, which caused his poll numbers to plummet. The state Board of Regents split over the issues of high-stakes testing, and the chancellor of the Regents announced her resignation. A supporter of the parents who opted out is likely to be chosen as the new chancellor in a few days.

 

Parents will opt out again in 2016 because despite the stunned reaction of public officials, very little has changed. The testing goes on. The absence of useful information continues. The tests are still too long. And NYSAPE’s truck is rolling again.

Categories Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Standardized Testing
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