PARCC -- What a waste. Can we opt out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grader took the ELA PARCC yesterday. He was excited as they were given gum and mints. I like looking at my kids scores when they come out. Data is always interesting. Also while we are hating on Pearssons, we should hate on College Board too. They have quite the gig - PSAT, SAT and AP exams.

Don't forget the SAT 2 subject tests!!

You're comparing apples and oranges. Educational Testing Services-created standardized tests are not given to elementary or middle school-age children in school; they are taken voluntarily by the college bound. What's more, these tests don't warp the curriculum like PARCC prep does, and the results are not tied to teacher evaluations. Very few public high schools in the country require PSAT, SAT and AP exam prep per se during the school day. It's a different kettle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge fan of standardized tests like PARCC, but it kind of goes along with the territory when you choose to attend public school. There has to be some kind of standardized test for the purpose of accountability. I don't think that parents should be allowed to opt out--if you choose to send your kids to public school then there are certain requirements they have to adhere to, and PARCC is one of them. For what it's worth, I send my kids to public school.

OK, so how do you force objecting families to take "required" standardized tests seriously? What's your plan to address the growing problem of families not taking them remotely seriously?

In FL, a judge in a state court recently ruled that children whose families opt out risk being kept back a grade. Now opt-out minded parents in FL are banding together to coach their children to bomb required test to fight back. Tens of thousands of FL families are doing this. At DC's own Wilson HS, scores of the highest-performing kids refused to take last year's PARCC, skewing results dramatically. These families faced no consequences. It seems to me that trampling on thoughtful civil disobedience is a losing battle for government, an area where thoughtful local, state or federal officials don't want to go to respect constitutional rights and deeply held beliefs about the separation between public institutions and corporate entities. If Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill weren't giving, and grading, most Common Core linked tests, my guess is that resistance to the tests would fade.

On this thread, PP's have argued that we all take PARCC tests scores seriously in DC when school shopping. I'm not buying it. What we take seriously almost to a high SES family are school FARMs rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge fan of standardized tests like PARCC, but it kind of goes along with the territory when you choose to attend public school. There has to be some kind of standardized test for the purpose of accountability. I don't think that parents should be allowed to opt out--if you choose to send your kids to public school then there are certain requirements they have to adhere to, and PARCC is one of them. For what it's worth, I send my kids to public school.

OK, so how do you force objecting families to take "required" standardized tests seriously? What's your plan to address the growing problem of families not taking them remotely seriously?

In FL, a judge in a state court recently ruled that children whose families opt out risk being kept back a grade. Now opt-out minded parents in FL are banding together to coach their children to bomb required test to fight back. Tens of thousands of FL families are doing this. At DC's own Wilson HS, scores of the highest-performing kids refused to take last year's PARCC, skewing results dramatically. These families faced no consequences. It seems to me that trampling on thoughtful civil disobedience is a losing battle for government, an area where thoughtful local, state or federal officials don't want to go to respect constitutional rights and deeply held beliefs about the separation between public institutions and corporate entities. If Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill weren't giving, and grading, most Common Core linked tests, my guess is that resistance to the tests would fade.

On this thread, PP's have argued that we all take PARCC tests scores seriously in DC when school shopping. I'm not buying it. What we take seriously almost to a high SES family are school FARMs rates.

so: don't test me, don't give me any consequences, don't make me go to school with poors? you are a piece of work.

there are definitely reasons to talk about PARCC and testing in general, but you are hysterical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge fan of standardized tests like PARCC, but it kind of goes along with the territory when you choose to attend public school. There has to be some kind of standardized test for the purpose of accountability. I don't think that parents should be allowed to opt out--if you choose to send your kids to public school then there are certain requirements they have to adhere to, and PARCC is one of them. For what it's worth, I send my kids to public school.

I don't have a choice to send my kids to school, the government requires it.

no it doesn't. you are perfectly within your rights to home school. The government requires that your child receive an education regardless of who provides it (private, public, DIY)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge fan of standardized tests like PARCC, but it kind of goes along with the territory when you choose to attend public school. There has to be some kind of standardized test for the purpose of accountability. I don't think that parents should be allowed to opt out--if you choose to send your kids to public school then there are certain requirements they have to adhere to, and PARCC is one of them. For what it's worth, I send my kids to public school.

lots of griping about "accountability" but tough to measure without data. There are issues with commercial providers, the overlapping/excessive/duplicative testing regiments, and the construction of some of the tests themselves, but the system needs reliable data points. I don't like how PARCC/Common Core is given too much weight but I don't object to standardized tests.

[Anonymous]

You people who want to opt out are like the anti-vaxxers--relying on the rest of the herd to do the unpleasant work while claiming your children are too special to participate.

[Anonymous]

In Maryland passing PARCC will be a graduation requirement - replacing their old home grown tests. There is an implementation period, so it hasn't applied to the last two classes but it's coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Maryland passing PARCC will be a graduation requirement - replacing their old home grown tests. There is an implementation period, so it hasn't applied to the last two classes but it's coming.

Link explaining http://archives.marylandpublicschools.org/MsDE/testing/hsg_qa/docs/2016-beyond-InformationGraduationAssessmentRequirements.pdf

There is an alternative http://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/03212016/Tab-2.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people who want to opt out are like the anti-vaxxers--relying on the rest of the herd to do the unpleasant work while claiming your children are too special to participate.

Please link to the research that says the corporate reform agenda works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people who want to opt out are like the anti-vaxxers--relying on the rest of the herd to do the unpleasant work while claiming your children are too special to participate.

Came here to say this. Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people who want to opt out are like the anti-vaxxers--relying on the rest of the herd to do the unpleasant work while claiming your children are too special to participate.

Came here to say this. Yes.

Where is the research that backs this up? NAEP scores went down at the end of the NCLB/waiver area.

Vaccines are backed by science, unlike the corporate reform agenda.

[Anonymous]

This is great. The Huffington Post pokes fun at national standardized testing fever (in a way they've never done for the anti vax movement).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/a-field-guide-to-standard_b_9724552.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is great. The Huffington Post pokes fun at national standardized testing fever (in a way they've never done for the anti vax movement).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/a-field-guide-to-standard_b_9724552.html

Oooh, that's really well done! Identifies so many of the posters in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is great. The Huffington Post pokes fun at national standardized testing fever (in a way they've never done for the anti vax movement).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/a-field-guide-to-standard_b_9724552.html

Oooh, that's really well done! Identifies so many of the posters in this thread.

Very entertaining. I loved the para about how the kids must take the tests to get used to "real life," because you can't find a spouse without passing a standardized test, or through a couple of work weeks, or even get your mother to love you.

[Anonymous]

No equivalency with vaxers. Science supports vaccines -- not extensive testing.