PARCC -- What a waste. Can we opt out?
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Anonymous
| The upcoming PARCC at our middle school seems like a lot of busywork benefiting bureaucrats and not students. Can we opt out? |
Anonymous
Charter or DCPS? |
Anonymous
| DCPS. |
Anonymous
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See this guidance from the Office of the Student Advocate (page 2 covers opting out).
https://sboe.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/sboe/page_content/attachments/OSA%20Assessments%20FAQ%205-13-16.pdf Short answer - not really |
Anonymous
| My kid (MS) sort of likes PARCC week (actually 4 partial days). For him it's a week free of homework and a break from routine. |
Anonymous
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Thank you so much for your insight! Very helpful.
-- OP |
Anonymous
According to that document, the short answer is yes. Yes, you can opt out. Bear in mind that if the school has a celebration party for completing the test, your DC may be excluded. Also, you may need to find some documentation (get your pediatrician to write a note) to state why your child was "sick" on testing days. Is there an opt-out policy for statewide assessments? There are currently no formal disciplinary consequences for a student who refuses to take the test. A student who does not take the PARCC assessment may be excluded from any incentive rewards. Does my child HAVE to take the PARCC assessments? Currently, there is no legislation banning parents from opting out of statewide assessments, nor is there legislation for an opt-out process. According to the statewide assessment policy from OSSE, eligible students are required to take any statewide assessments. A child may be marked as absent for the time missed during assessment testing days. A student who does not take the PARCC assessment may also be excluded from any incentive rewards for successful completion of assessments. I would love to see DC develop an anti-testing culture comparable to that in more educated states such a Massachusetts (http://www.citizensforpublicschools.org/the-facts-on-opting-out-of-mcas-or-parcc/). I resent the school using my child for its own purposes. This doesn't benefit the students. |
Anonymous
So... no learning takes place - but at least he doesn't mind. |
Anonymous
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Based on this we'll do the PARCC.
-- OP |
Anonymous
Also from the document -- Does anything happen to LEAs if I choose to have my child opt-out of statewide assessments? According to federal policy, LEAs are required to assess at least 95% of eligible students or else they may be sanctioned. Sanctions can include but are not limited to decreased funding, identification as a lower ranking school, or identification as a low-participation rate school. There is currently no state-level guidance regarding sanctions for LEAs that do not meet the 95% assessment threshold. |
Anonymous
He's learning plenty the rest of the year and it's the equivalent of 2 days. My point is it's not something his school spends any time prepping for and he's not stressed about it. If it were 4-5 full days, I would have concerns. This isn't really any different than what was done during my childhood (70s/80s in flyover country). |
Anonymous
| Your child is going to have to face standardized tests for much of his/her young adult life if he/she plans to go to college and graduate school. Think SATs/ACTs, LSAT, GRE, GMAT. I don't see a problem with PARCC and think of it as a way to get used to the pressure of test taking. |
Anonymous
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The PARCC seems like such a waste of time.
If it were worthwhile, the private schools would be on board. Oh wait - parents there are paying for their children to receive instructional time. |
Anonymous
Private schools test students, and use instructional time to do it too -- research the ERB. They do it to test themselves, and compare how their students are doing to those at other private schools. The NAEP, which isn't given to all students, is given to a sample of both public and private school kids. |
Anonymous
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I think the value of the test is to the institution itself, to measure how various schools are doing relative to each other. There is no direct benefit to the student at all, only an indirect benefit in having some sort of quantitative assessment of the whole student population.
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