How do I opt my child out of testing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ While I would agree that the test should be diagnostic, it seems most of your objection is based on a flawed premise that the standards were developed "without consulting ANY experts in early childhood education and the luminaries in a variety of fields - educators, psychologists, etc" when that is absolutely FALSE - in fact, they had a massive amount of input from such experts as well as from many front-line teachers.

please direct us to the massive input.

It's a fact - the Common Core standards development process started out with looking at a number of existing state standards that had already been developed with input and vetting from experts, and then had several series of committees, workgroups and review/input periods, they had people from academia, child psychologists, experts on pedagogy and many other fields and in fact they received and addressed over 10,000 comments. Politifact looked into the claims that there was no input from front-line teachers and ruled it to be false: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/oct/21/fact-checking-common-core-school-standards/

The claim that the standards were developed in a closed back room with no input is an outright lie being aggressively circulated by Heartland Institute and a few other conservative front organizations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ While I would agree that the test should be diagnostic, it seems most of your objection is based on a flawed premise that the standards were developed "without consulting ANY experts in early childhood education and the luminaries in a variety of fields - educators, psychologists, etc" when that is absolutely FALSE - in fact, they had a massive amount of input from such experts as well as from many front-line teachers.

please direct us to the massive input.

It's a fact - the Common Core standards development process started out with looking at a number of existing state standards that had already been developed with input and vetting from experts, and then had several series of committees, workgroups and review/input periods, they had people from academia, child psychologists, experts on pedagogy and many other fields and in fact they received and addressed over 10,000 comments. Politifact looked into the claims that there was no input from front-line teachers and ruled it to be false: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/oct/21/fact-checking-common-core-school-standards/

The claim that the standards were developed in a closed back room with no input is an outright lie being aggressively circulated by Heartland Institute and a few other conservative front organizations.

So -- now an attempt to sway liberal DC parents (i.e., the majority of public school parents) by saying opt out is a conservative conspiracy. Please just google "opt out" "standardized testing" to get a wealth of information to decide for yourselves. Also -- it appears the above poster has conflated the concept of common core with opting out -- they are related but different ideas -- don't be taken in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so funny. Billions of people around the world live in countries where standardized, country-wide exams are the norm for every class and grade. Your "opt out!" frenzy is comedic.

are you a shill? there's nothing "comedic" about a national movement of opting out of lengthy, imposed standardized tests.

I'm not a shill. I'm a high school teacher. I've seen nearly two decades with thousands of kids during that time who were passed along or came from substandard schools. It is astonishing the level of watering down that needs to take place at the high school level to "get everyone to pass" when they come to you with marginal reading comprehension, little critical thinking and lousy math skills.

Yes. indeed. But that is not a defensive of this PARCC test nor the way it's questionable results are used. That, my friend is an argument for accountability and standards which I think we ALL wholeheartedly support.

^^agreed. Seems like above high school teacher, like the conflator of common core with PARCC, is trying to divert parents reading here from the clearly expressed issue of high-stakes standardized testing mandated to public schools in the NCLB legislation. Meanwhile, they do not respond to direct questions about PARCC.

It does seem like the PR team really doesn't want parents to focus on opting out and so tries to scare them or guilt trip them about other issues. Perhaps this is because they have no good defense for it and know they can't stop parents from opting out.

[Anonymous]

Change the subject; cloud the facts; ignore relevant, direct questions; speak from authority, without proof of it; appeal to parental guilt; question political motives; introduce bogeymen, discredit opposing viewpoints -- all well known PR tactics to sway opinion and behavior.

Some of these tactics can be used for the public good, but they also used to sell ideas or change behavior that does not benefit the people to whom they are aimed.

[Anonymous]

LMAO! It is the anti-testing folks who are engaging in those very tactics, of clouding the facts, ignoring relevant FACTS, and now introducing an imagined bogeyman wanting other posters to believe that there's a "Common Core PR team" operating here.

All bogus. The bottom line is that the anti-testing, anti-CC folks have consistently FAILED to provide any real facts to support their claims that the standards are somehow bad, that the standards were developed in a vacuum, that they were not vetted, that teachers were not involved, when NONE of that is true - and it is THEY who are the ones involved in disinformation, spouting bogus and disproven Heartland Institute talking points, et cetera. There is in fact a wealth of factual information out there that SUPPORTS Common Core and testing, whereas all one can find on the anti-side are indeed bogus talking points and opinion pieces, none of which actually have any factual data or evidence behind them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ While I would agree that the test should be diagnostic, it seems most of your objection is based on a flawed premise that the standards were developed "without consulting ANY experts in early childhood education and the luminaries in a variety of fields - educators, psychologists, etc" when that is absolutely FALSE - in fact, they had a massive amount of input from such experts as well as from many front-line teachers.

please direct us to the massive input.

It's a fact - the Common Core standards development process started out with looking at a number of existing state standards that had already been developed with input and vetting from experts, and then had several series of committees, workgroups and review/input periods, they had people from academia, child psychologists, experts on pedagogy and many other fields and in fact they received and addressed over 10,000 comments. Politifact looked into the claims that there was no input from front-line teachers and ruled it to be false: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/oct/21/fact-checking-common-core-school-standards/

The claim that the standards were developed in a closed back room with no input is an outright lie being aggressively circulated by Heartland Institute and a few other conservative front organizations.

So -- now an attempt to sway liberal DC parents (i.e., the majority of public school parents) by saying opt out is a conservative conspiracy. Please just google "opt out" "standardized testing" to get a wealth of information to decide for yourselves. Also -- it appears the above poster has conflated the concept of common core with opting out -- they are related but different ideas -- don't be taken in.

Look, not sure what would satisfy your need for evidence. Here are a few more news outlets that have been allowing a voice to educators and experts:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parcc/

http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action...&pgtype=Homepage#/PARCC%20test

http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=PARCC+test&mod=DNH_S


Here is Illinois honored teacher speaking out

http://twitchy.com/2015/02/17/illinois-2012-teache...speaks-out-against-parcc-test/

Not sure what you want....

These, and the links I followed from these articles, are what convinced me - and I am not conflating two things - what I am saying is that having NEVER (with 4 kids in DCPS or DCPCS) opted out of the NAEP or the DC CAS, I am going to opt out of the PARCC for my academically high performing 3rd grader who does not know how to type and or really navigate a computer screen.

My older kids are getting grades now, and she recently came home with a math test where most of her answers were correct but she did not fill in the "explain your answers" part, and got what my older kids consider to be a bad grade. The "explain your answers" "explain your reasoning" "show your work" is completely reasonable in an older grade or in a class other than math - but this format, which I have never seen on a test before this (and the kids all went to the same highly rated WOTP ES), is geared clearly to the PARCC.

I was conflating two threads, however, and I do apologize for that. On the other thread about "would you move back to private b/c of common core" is where mom talked about at least a week in an EOTP school being spend on trying to learn how to understand how to follow the instructions on the test, which allegedly in 3rd grade are not age appropriate even where the test is and that, to me, is a wasted week of test prep. Test prep that covers actual common core content? Maybe. But on that other thread someone also said this was trickling down to 2nd grade because the teachers and principals have so much riding on it.

My husband, who is a math guy, and does not like the math program they are using at the school we are at, says that they are trying to push the kids too far too fast in math b/c of the PARCC. Our kids are very good at math, always scored advanced, I'm sure on the DC CAS this one would as well, but they just blew through some really key foundational concepts to try to catch up to get everyone ready for this

self described non diagnostic test where there can be more than one right answer (how do you score that and how can you have teachers' careers riding on answers to those questions?),

and after the reading I have done IMO non age appropriate (in math) test, which apparently also contains instructions that are so difficult to understand for kids that maybe are a bit behind that they spent at least a week focused on trying to help the kids adjust to the format, not learn the information in at least one EOTP school, and our kid is not going to adjust to this format. My third grader will learn to type over the summer of third grade, same as my other kids, not earlier, not because of the PARCC, because typing means access to a computer and once that door is opened it is very difficult to shut it especially in a house full of older kids who are playing all sorts of interactive games with friends who have left this transient city, but set dates to play so that they still stay in touch.

So not an opt out test person, have never had kids opt out of a test before, and not opting out my older kids, just my 3rd grader mostly because the format of this test expects kids this age to be able to type. And especially in predominantly poor cities, that is just ridiculous - maybe there are third graders who can text, but that is a different skill, and not one my kid is learning either.

[Anonymous]

"LMAO! It is the anti-testing folks who are engaging in those very tactics, of clouding the facts, ignoring relevant FACTS, and now introducing an imagined bogeyman wanting other posters to believe that there's a "Common Core PR team" operating here."

+million. We are almost through with elementary school and I have yet to see signs of any "high stakes testing," and the same is true with my friends who have kids at other public schools.

I also don't understand the harm of having one's child take the PARCC. It's a learning experience, regardless of whether it is a good assessment, and the results are not going to determine a child's future. In fact, there's no need for a child to know how s/he performed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"LMAO! It is the anti-testing folks who are engaging in those very tactics, of clouding the facts, ignoring relevant FACTS, and now introducing an imagined bogeyman wanting other posters to believe that there's a "Common Core PR team" operating here."

+million. We are almost through with elementary school and I have yet to see signs of any "high stakes testing," and the same is true with my friends who have kids at other public schools.

I also don't understand the harm of having one's child take the PARCC. It's a learning experience, regardless of whether it is a good assessment, and the results are not going to determine a child's future. In fact, there's no need for a child to know how s/he performed.

If your child applies to a private school, those test scores will be included with your child's transcripts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"LMAO! It is the anti-testing folks who are engaging in those very tactics, of clouding the facts, ignoring relevant FACTS, and now introducing an imagined bogeyman wanting other posters to believe that there's a "Common Core PR team" operating here."

+million. We are almost through with elementary school and I have yet to see signs of any "high stakes testing," and the same is true with my friends who have kids at other public schools.

I also don't understand the harm of having one's child take the PARCC. It's a learning experience, regardless of whether it is a good assessment, and the results are not going to determine a child's future. In fact, there's no need for a child to know how s/he performed.

Clouding facts again, and not being specific -- speaking broadly of "testing" and not the specific type of testing in question. PARCC (and previously DC-CAS) are high-stakes for the schools and teachers -- and not at all for the kids. The harm to kids of such testing is that the time spent preparing for and taking such tests detracts from actually learning.

And what's with common core in quotes above? it was not quoted in the original or even mentioned in that context. The PR effort was not connected to any group -- nice try at obfuscation and planting false ideas -- but if it had been, it would have been to DCPS, who is well-known for paying large sums (sometimes through donors) for PR efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"LMAO! It is the anti-testing folks who are engaging in those very tactics, of clouding the facts, ignoring relevant FACTS, and now introducing an imagined bogeyman wanting other posters to believe that there's a "Common Core PR team" operating here."

+million. We are almost through with elementary school and I have yet to see signs of any "high stakes testing," and the same is true with my friends who have kids at other public schools.

I also don't understand the harm of having one's child take the PARCC. It's a learning experience, regardless of whether it is a good assessment, and the results are not going to determine a child's future. In fact, there's no need for a child to know how s/he performed.

Once again focused on your own kids and not the effect a bad test with bogus results applied in a non-valid way to high-stakes decisions will have on public education in general. This is not about YOUR kids--who aren't even in the mix because ether have already finished their primary education ahead of these changes ( supposedly ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so funny. Billions of people around the world live in countries where standardized, country-wide exams are the norm for every class and grade. Your "opt out!" frenzy is comedic.

are you a shill? there's nothing "comedic" about a national movement of opting out of lengthy, imposed standardized tests.

I think it's funny... but in a sad way, kind of like the anti-vaxxers... "Testing's gonna fry yer kid's brain and make him artistic!"

I am in an education support position (NOT a teacher affected by the results) in a DCPS and also have a kid in 1st grade - and am completely against the PARCC test specifically and "high-stakes" testing in general. But I don't think actually taking the test will hurt MY kid in any substantive way - though I'm certain that it will be a frustrating experience.

After the training we have received and after taking about half of the practice tests I think it flawed - the format is cumbersome and time consuming - doing the reading comprehension online is exhausting with all the flipping back and forth and having to find the right place. And some of the questions are just so poorly worded, check out the math sections.

In addition, the shear about of time going into this test in terms of hours and hours spent by all levels at DCPS is such a waste - for many the regular school year might as well end next week as so much of our focus will be on this test.

I really don't see similarities to the anti-vaxxers.