SEL screener survey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our results came in the mail yesterday. My 6th grader was 4 or 5s. My 14 yo son was pretty much straight 1-2s. I remembered when he took it. He came home and said he took some stupid survey in school to find out how messed up students were so he gave them what they wanted to hear and picked the “worst” possible answer for each question. I didn’t mention results to either and threw them out.

Unfortunately, your son's private musings are now intellectual property of an outside tech company, along with personal identifying information.

You need to reach out to fcps to tell them to remove your kid's survey and information from the panorama database.

This is a tremendous violation of 180,000 minor children's privacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

I have a senior. No Friday folders for us.

I didn’t first see the information in Friday folders. It was on the FCPS website since the beginning of the year under testing. It listed what tests would be administered this year for each grade level. I saw SEL survey and clicked on it. I knew immediately based on the inappropriateness of some of the questions that I would be opting my kids out.

I check the website frequently, especially at the beginning of the year. I suggest you do the same. Oh that’s also how I found out about the “urban youth” survey. We opted out of that one too.

I have teens and realize that fcps is not very forthcoming with these kinds of surveys nor is fcps too terribly interested in informed consent.

I try to opt out of these things, but realize that I might miss some of them. I believe there have been 5 or 6 different opt out thpe surveys so far this year. Multiply that by 2 or 3 kids and given that the forms come to parents in so many ways, most of which do not guarantee that the forms and information actually reach the parents, it can be easy to overlook an opt out of two.

I tell my teens that they are never, ever to answer any of these outside surveys administered by fcps, even if I did not formally opt out. They know to just leave them blank.

No non family adult or non personal medical doctor or for profit company needs to know any minor child's musings on race, their sexual history, whether or not they use drugs or alcohol, their family's personal information, sexual preferences, etc, etc, especially if that private company is making millions of dollars off this information.

Nothing is private online.

Tricking our minor kids to divulge this kind of intimate information, particularly without informed consent by the child and parents, to a company that is making millions of dollars off this information, is a huge violation by fcps and frankly, should be criminal.

[Anonymous]

From FCPS website, the Spring SEL Survey will be given April 12 to May 6. We did opt-out in Fall and read opt-out letter to apply to both Fall & Spring surveys. Do you all agree?

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/SEL-Screener-Notification-and-Opt-Out-English.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the “urban youth” survey that someone mentions above?

It’s given in 6th, 8th, and in high school I believe. It’s also online on the FCPS site to view and it’s even worse. It asks about drug use, sexual preferences, gender orientations, and private family matters. The worst part is for the sixth graders, it asked about “hufffing.” My child has no idea what huffing is. I don’t want my child googling this crap.

That survey has already been given. We opted out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

I have a senior. No Friday folders for us.

I didn’t first see the information in Friday folders. It was on the FCPS website since the beginning of the year under testing. It listed what tests would be administered this year for each grade level. I saw SEL survey and clicked on it. I knew immediately based on the inappropriateness of some of the questions that I would be opting my kids out.

I check the website frequently, especially at the beginning of the year. I suggest you do the same. Oh that’s also how I found out about the “urban youth” survey. We opted out of that one too.

I have teens and realize that fcps is not very forthcoming with these kinds of surveys nor is fcps too terribly interested in informed consent.

I try to opt out of these things, but realize that I might miss some of them. I believe there have been 5 or 6 different opt out thpe surveys so far this year. Multiply that by 2 or 3 kids and given that the forms come to parents in so many ways, most of which do not guarantee that the forms and information actually reach the parents, it can be easy to overlook an opt out of two.

I tell my teens that they are never, ever to answer any of these outside surveys administered by fcps, even if I did not formally opt out. They know to just leave them blank.

No non family adult or non personal medical doctor or for profit company needs to know any minor child's musings on race, their sexual history, whether or not they use drugs or alcohol, their family's personal information, sexual preferences, etc, etc, especially if that private company is making millions of dollars off this information.

Nothing is private online.

Tricking our minor kids to divulge this kind of intimate information, particularly without informed consent by the child and parents, to a company that is making millions of dollars off this information, is a huge violation by fcps and frankly, should be criminal.

It's not even a guarantee that the opting out process is easy. I opted my 8th grader out. The MS sent an email saying to tell the assigned counselor if you wanted to opt out. I tracked down which counselor who was assigned to my DC, but direct emails are no longer listed on the school's website (I'm guessing because of the hacking issues a few years ago). You have to fill out a form which is theoretically sent to the person. I filled it out twice and never got a response. Having not gotten a response, I directly emailed the counselor who was listed as being in charge of the survey for the school because that email address was provided. I received no response. I told my DC not to fill out the survey. Of course, her teacher gave her the survey and then argued with my DC that she had to take it, because she wasn't on the list of opted out students. DC very politely told the teacher she wasn't taking the survey because her mom told her not to. But there was some back and forth, with DC texting me and me ultimately forwarding her the email I had sent to the counselor to show to the teacher. A student who hadn't been fully prepped not to respond to the survey would have just taken it.

I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

I have a senior. No Friday folders for us.

I didn’t first see the information in Friday folders. It was on the FCPS website since the beginning of the year under testing. It listed what tests would be administered this year for each grade level. I saw SEL survey and clicked on it. I knew immediately based on the inappropriateness of some of the questions that I would be opting my kids out.

I check the website frequently, especially at the beginning of the year. I suggest you do the same. Oh that’s also how I found out about the “urban youth” survey. We opted out of that one too.

I have teens and realize that fcps is not very forthcoming with these kinds of surveys nor is fcps too terribly interested in informed consent.

I try to opt out of these things, but realize that I might miss some of them. I believe there have been 5 or 6 different opt out thpe surveys so far this year. Multiply that by 2 or 3 kids and given that the forms come to parents in so many ways, most of which do not guarantee that the forms and information actually reach the parents, it can be easy to overlook an opt out of two.

I tell my teens that they are never, ever to answer any of these outside surveys administered by fcps, even if I did not formally opt out. They know to just leave them blank.

No non family adult or non personal medical doctor or for profit company needs to know any minor child's musings on race, their sexual history, whether or not they use drugs or alcohol, their family's personal information, sexual preferences, etc, etc, especially if that private company is making millions of dollars off this information.

Nothing is private online.

Tricking our minor kids to divulge this kind of intimate information, particularly without informed consent by the child and parents, to a company that is making millions of dollars off this information, is a huge violation by fcps and frankly, should be criminal.

It's not even a guarantee that the opting out process is easy. I opted my 8th grader out. The MS sent an email saying to tell the assigned counselor if you wanted to opt out. I tracked down which counselor who was assigned to my DC, but direct emails are no longer listed on the school's website (I'm guessing because of the hacking issues a few years ago). You have to fill out a form which is theoretically sent to the person. I filled it out twice and never got a response. Having not gotten a response, I directly emailed the counselor who was listed as being in charge of the survey for the school because that email address was provided. I received no response. I told my DC not to fill out the survey. Of course, her teacher gave her the survey and then argued with my DC that she had to take it, because she wasn't on the list of opted out students. DC very politely told the teacher she wasn't taking the survey because her mom told her not to. But there was some back and forth, with DC texting me and me ultimately forwarding her the email I had sent to the counselor to show to the teacher. A student who hadn't been fully prepped not to respond to the survey would have just taken it.

I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons.

We are told by FCPS that these surveys or screeners are voluntary, right? Then, why did her teacher insist that your daughter takes it to the extent that you had to prove you had opted your daughter out? If they only put that much effort into the academic output of our children they would be better off in that area. After all, we send them to school to learn not to be some else’s statistics pawns.
After reading your posting I will tell my child to ignore any survey or screener from now on, and instead request that his teachers assigns him class work during the administration of these surveys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

I have a senior. No Friday folders for us.

I didn’t first see the information in Friday folders. It was on the FCPS website since the beginning of the year under testing. It listed what tests would be administered this year for each grade level. I saw SEL survey and clicked on it. I knew immediately based on the inappropriateness of some of the questions that I would be opting my kids out.

I check the website frequently, especially at the beginning of the year. I suggest you do the same. Oh that’s also how I found out about the “urban youth” survey. We opted out of that one too.

I have teens and realize that fcps is not very forthcoming with these kinds of surveys nor is fcps too terribly interested in informed consent.

I try to opt out of these things, but realize that I might miss some of them. I believe there have been 5 or 6 different opt out thpe surveys so far this year. Multiply that by 2 or 3 kids and given that the forms come to parents in so many ways, most of which do not guarantee that the forms and information actually reach the parents, it can be easy to overlook an opt out of two.

I tell my teens that they are never, ever to answer any of these outside surveys administered by fcps, even if I did not formally opt out. They know to just leave them blank.

No non family adult or non personal medical doctor or for profit company needs to know any minor child's musings on race, their sexual history, whether or not they use drugs or alcohol, their family's personal information, sexual preferences, etc, etc, especially if that private company is making millions of dollars off this information.

Nothing is private online.

Tricking our minor kids to divulge this kind of intimate information, particularly without informed consent by the child and parents, to a company that is making millions of dollars off this information, is a huge violation by fcps and frankly, should be criminal.

It's not even a guarantee that the opting out process is easy. I opted my 8th grader out. The MS sent an email saying to tell the assigned counselor if you wanted to opt out. I tracked down which counselor who was assigned to my DC, but direct emails are no longer listed on the school's website (I'm guessing because of the hacking issues a few years ago). You have to fill out a form which is theoretically sent to the person. I filled it out twice and never got a response. Having not gotten a response, I directly emailed the counselor who was listed as being in charge of the survey for the school because that email address was provided. I received no response. I told my DC not to fill out the survey. Of course, her teacher gave her the survey and then argued with my DC that she had to take it, because she wasn't on the list of opted out students. DC very politely told the teacher she wasn't taking the survey because her mom told her not to. But there was some back and forth, with DC texting me and me ultimately forwarding her the email I had sent to the counselor to show to the teacher. A student who hadn't been fully prepped not to respond to the survey would have just taken it.

I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons.

We are told by FCPS that these surveys or screeners are voluntary, right? Then, why did her teacher insist that your daughter takes it to the extent that you had to prove you had opted your daughter out? If they only put that much effort into the academic output of our children they would be better off in that area. After all, we send them to school to learn not to be some else’s statistics pawns.
After reading your posting I will tell my child to ignore any survey or screener from now on, and instead request that his teachers assigns him class work during the administration of these surveys.

The screenings are opt out.

The default setting is that every kid is required to take the survey, even if they are uncomfortable or if their family object, or did not receive the email to opt out of did not understand the survey due to language or cultural barriers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

I have a senior. No Friday folders for us.

I didn’t first see the information in Friday folders. It was on the FCPS website since the beginning of the year under testing. It listed what tests would be administered this year for each grade level. I saw SEL survey and clicked on it. I knew immediately based on the inappropriateness of some of the questions that I would be opting my kids out.

I check the website frequently, especially at the beginning of the year. I suggest you do the same. Oh that’s also how I found out about the “urban youth” survey. We opted out of that one too.

I have teens and realize that fcps is not very forthcoming with these kinds of surveys nor is fcps too terribly interested in informed consent.

I try to opt out of these things, but realize that I might miss some of them. I believe there have been 5 or 6 different opt out thpe surveys so far this year. Multiply that by 2 or 3 kids and given that the forms come to parents in so many ways, most of which do not guarantee that the forms and information actually reach the parents, it can be easy to overlook an opt out of two.

I tell my teens that they are never, ever to answer any of these outside surveys administered by fcps, even if I did not formally opt out. They know to just leave them blank.

No non family adult or non personal medical doctor or for profit company needs to know any minor child's musings on race, their sexual history, whether or not they use drugs or alcohol, their family's personal information, sexual preferences, etc, etc, especially if that private company is making millions of dollars off this information.

Nothing is private online.

Tricking our minor kids to divulge this kind of intimate information, particularly without informed consent by the child and parents, to a company that is making millions of dollars off this information, is a huge violation by fcps and frankly, should be criminal.

It's not even a guarantee that the opting out process is easy. I opted my 8th grader out. The MS sent an email saying to tell the assigned counselor if you wanted to opt out. I tracked down which counselor who was assigned to my DC, but direct emails are no longer listed on the school's website (I'm guessing because of the hacking issues a few years ago). You have to fill out a form which is theoretically sent to the person. I filled it out twice and never got a response. Having not gotten a response, I directly emailed the counselor who was listed as being in charge of the survey for the school because that email address was provided. I received no response. I told my DC not to fill out the survey. Of course, her teacher gave her the survey and then argued with my DC that she had to take it, because she wasn't on the list of opted out students. DC very politely told the teacher she wasn't taking the survey because her mom told her not to. But there was some back and forth, with DC texting me and me ultimately forwarding her the email I had sent to the counselor to show to the teacher. A student who hadn't been fully prepped not to respond to the survey would have just taken it.

I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons.

We are told by FCPS that these surveys or screeners are voluntary, right? Then, why did her teacher insist that your daughter takes it to the extent that you had to prove you had opted your daughter out? If they only put that much effort into the academic output of our children they would be better off in that area. After all, we send them to school to learn not to be some else’s statistics pawns.
After reading your posting I will tell my child to ignore any survey or screener from now on, and instead request that his teachers assigns him class work during the administration of these surveys.

I think the teacher was so insistent because she's a first year teacher and probably really wanted to follow the exact instructions she had been given by administration. My other DCs are in elementary schools with more experienced teachers. They both emailed to let me know they'd give my DCs something to do while the other kids were taking the survey so they weren't just sitting there doing nothing. It was a nonissue for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the uselessness of the survey itself, the results letter was incredibly dense and full of jargon. The second sentence is 50 words long! Although the letter sort of says it's not a "grade", the rating scale is very similar to a grade. The entire rating scale is poorly described and the two digit decimal precision is ridiculous. There's also no other context given - how do my kids ratings compare to the overall school average? A friendlier format that fully explains each topic with the student's results and suggested discussion questions would have been far more useful.

There may be some value here, but the average parent either won't understand this letter or worse, completely misunderstand it.

We'll be opting out in the future.

Why didn’t you opt out to begin with?

Where was this? Never saw it.

An opt out form was sent in our Friday folders. Additionally, it was on the FCPS website, along with a copy of the exact survey that was being administered. Once I saw the survey, I immediately knew I wanted to opt out.

Fcps tries to be as non transparent as possible with the opt out forms.

Contrast that with how vigilant and harrassing they are when they are trying to collect impact aide forms.

Funny how money does that.

[Anonymous]

They are really giving this survey three times this year? Twice more? Unreal. How to opt out of the next round?

[Anonymous]

A PP wrote:

“ I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons. ”

Agree 100%.

I do not want my child to be administered interventions by the school based on this sketchy, subjective “screener.”

Worse - the results become part of my child’s permanent record. What if the wrong combination of a mere child’s answers leads to the school deeming my child “mentally ill ?”

Anyone know for certain, the future consequences of a bad score on this SEL test? We are opting out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A PP wrote:

“ I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons. ”

Agree 100%.

I do not want my child to be administered interventions by the school based on this sketchy, subjective “screener.”

Worse - the results become part of my child’s permanent record. What if the wrong combination of a mere child’s answers leads to the school deeming my child “mentally ill ?”

Anyone know for certain, the future consequences of a bad score on this SEL test? We are opting out.

This was exactly my fear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A PP wrote:

“ I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons. ”

Agree 100%.

I do not want my child to be administered interventions by the school based on this sketchy, subjective “screener.”

Worse - the results become part of my child’s permanent record. What if the wrong combination of a mere child’s answers leads to the school deeming my child “mentally ill ?”

Anyone know for certain, the future consequences of a bad score on this SEL test? We are opting out.

This was exactly my fear.

FWIW, my youngest scored really low - but it’s consistent with the emotional issues he is dealing with (and sees a therapist for). Rather than be deemed “mentally ill,” the school offered some before-school mindfulness opportunities to help address some of his stress. I think it’s great and I have to say, the school has been supportive throughout.

I think you all need to take a big deep breath (be mindful!) and really consider that FCPS wants to help. It’s in their best interest to ensure kids are emotionally and mentally present and ready to learn. These surveys are well-known and much-discussed on DCUM, so none of it should have been a surprise to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A PP wrote:

“ I'm not into the conspiracy theory of Facebook connections or anything like that. I just didn't like the fact that it became a part of my child's educational record, as defined under FERPA, and that students who scored 'poorly' would be given interventions. I felt very strongly about my DCs not taking the survey for those reasons. ”

Agree 100%.

I do not want my child to be administered interventions by the school based on this sketchy, subjective “screener.”

Worse - the results become part of my child’s permanent record. What if the wrong combination of a mere child’s answers leads to the school deeming my child “mentally ill ?”

Anyone know for certain, the future consequences of a bad score on this SEL test? We are opting out.

This was exactly my fear.

FWIW, my youngest scored really low - but it’s consistent with the emotional issues he is dealing with (and sees a therapist for). Rather than be deemed “mentally ill,” the school offered some before-school mindfulness opportunities to help address some of his stress. I think it’s great and I have to say, the school has been supportive throughout.

I think you all need to take a big deep breath (be mindful!) and really consider that FCPS wants to help. It’s in their best interest to ensure kids are emotionally and mentally present and ready to learn. These surveys are well-known and much-discussed on DCUM, so none of it should have been a surprise to you.

Lol. This has to be the biggest crock of sh*t I’ve ever heard. They want to help?! Then get smaller class sizes and kick the disruptive kids out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are really giving this survey three times this year? Twice more? Unreal. How to opt out of the next round?

They do not make it easy.

No online opt-out option, as far as I can tell.

It requires printing a paper form, signing it, delivering it, and hoping it gets to the right person.