MCAP Administration - Make Up Question

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know - What happens if my kid has a doctor's appointment during the designated make-up time for MCAP? How much will the school chase my student down to make it up?

[Anonymous]

They'll chase your kid down. They have to get everyone. Unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They'll chase your kid down. They have to get everyone. Unfortunately.

Is there a date after which it will stop? Or is this through the end of the school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They'll chase your kid down. They have to get everyone. Unfortunately.

Is there a date after which it will stop? Or is this through the end of the school year?

The flippant answer is no, there is no point at which this testing madness will stop.

According to the testing calendar our HS shared, the MCAP testing window ends June 3. Not sure whether it’s different for ES or MS. But the counselor or testing coordinator will arrange for him to take it at some point, even if they have to pull him out of class.

[Anonymous]

What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

[Anonymous]

I used to be a test coordinator and we essentially stalked the kids who missed testing to ensure that they finished all sections. If they were out for the test, we put them in a make-up group. If they missed the make-up, we would stop by the student's classroom and grab them to test if they were present the next day. The testing office hounds us to get everyone finished with state testing since there's a "no opt-out" policy.
I'm so glad I'm done with that responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

My 6th grader in the Virtual Academy just finished taking her in-person MCAPs last week at her home school. Half the students wore masks, and most of the teachers (but hardly any of the front office staff). She went in with her trusty KF94 (her face is too small for the regular N95), and has not had any symptoms at all. We weren't thrilled that she'd have to take tests in person, and she's most definitely not the kind of child to refuse to test, but it wasn't that bad.

Also, please be aware that some state tests are required for high school graduation, but perhaps not the ones your child is being asked to take this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

The test is taken on a chromebook app, so obviously one would be provided for them to use. But I wouldn't be altering much in my life to bring my kids in for this test either. You can probably avoid future "demanding" phone calls if you explicitly state that your child is refusing to take it, and find out what you need to do to have it documented that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

My 6th grader in the Virtual Academy just finished taking her in-person MCAPs last week at her home school. Half the students wore masks, and most of the teachers (but hardly any of the front office staff). She went in with her trusty KF94 (her face is too small for the regular N95), and has not had any symptoms at all. We weren't thrilled that she'd have to take tests in person, and she's most definitely not the kind of child to refuse to test, but it wasn't that bad.

Also, please be aware that some state tests are required for high school graduation, but perhaps not the ones your child is being asked to take this year.

Our school forgot to include us and then emailed the other day realizing they forgot to include the virtual kids. Their mistake is not my problem. My children would not refuse either. I said no as I was not comfortable with the text conditions they offered.

I worry as the tests are needed for graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

The test is taken on a chromebook app, so obviously one would be provided for them to use. But I wouldn't be altering much in my life to bring my kids in for this test either. You can probably avoid future "demanding" phone calls if you explicitly state that your child is refusing to take it, and find out what you need to do to have it documented that way.

My child would never refuse but I did as the parent. I don’t mind bringing them in but not as Covid numbers are peaking again and limited masks. They are doing it in a huge room with lots of kids. That’s not even conducive to taking a test. We emailed them a month ago about it and multiple people did not respond. I’m fine with the test, just not during Covid, which is why we choose virtual.

Thanks for the opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if a child is sick for a few of the days?

To reiterate, they will chase the student down and administer the test during the makeup window. If a student is absent for the entire testing window, the school has to file a special exemption for a student being unavailable. It is a huge PITA to do that and the students basically receives a 0 for the purposes of school accountability.

If a student is absent for all four parts of a test and shows up on the last day of the window, they will take all four parts in one day.

So, is it an issue for the student, or just the school? We are not doing it this year.

If you want to "no do it," you need to instruct your child to close their chromebook and refuse to take the test. Give the school a heads-up that that's the plan. A parent cannot refuse testing on behalf of their child, but the child can refuse to take the test. Then the administrators just do paperwork for a test refusal. Much, much easier for everyone involved. I have had this circumstance two or three times in my career. One was a family that was upset about their child not qualifying for particular testing accommodations, so they let us know they would be refusing. To be honest, I was pretty much on their side for that one.

It's never an issue for the student, because there are lots of reasons why a student wouldn't have a score (arrived to the school district after testing, was homeschooled, new to the country, etc). But the school gets penalized if they do not administer the test to all students. If your child refuses, it still counts as the school administering the test.

Our kids are not in person so we’d have to bring them and we are not ok with the make up offered. No masking and during a surge in a big room with lots of people is a no for us. My kids would never refuse and I have no issue with testing if they could provide it safely. Plus, they don’t have chrome books. The school emailed demanding we bring them in.

My 6th grader in the Virtual Academy just finished taking her in-person MCAPs last week at her home school. Half the students wore masks, and most of the teachers (but hardly any of the front office staff). She went in with her trusty KF94 (her face is too small for the regular N95), and has not had any symptoms at all. We weren't thrilled that she'd have to take tests in person, and she's most definitely not the kind of child to refuse to test, but it wasn't that bad.

Also, please be aware that some state tests are required for high school graduation, but perhaps not the ones your child is being asked to take this year.

Our school forgot to include us and then emailed the other day realizing they forgot to include the virtual kids. Their mistake is not my problem. My children would not refuse either. I said no as I was not comfortable with the text conditions they offered.

I worry as the tests are needed for graduation.

It might be work to your advantage, as the room will probably be emptier for the make-up than the actual dates. If it's needed for graduation, what else are you going to do?