I seriously just want to opt out of testing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind testing per se, but dislike multiple choice tests for elementary school children, and won't let mine anywhere near the PARCC. If the test included putting together a presentation, group work, reciting poetry, an art project, performing a song and dance number, creative writing, a choice of essay questions to respond to, speaking a foreign language, manipulating spread sheets, a spelling bee, a geography bee or any other vaguely academic exercise I thought my children might benefit from, I'd be cheering for the PARCC.

The private schools have it right- just teach and learn already, forget the bloody tests, at least for the high SES kids.

Private schools require testing like the wippsi which is an IQ test for preschoolers for admissions.

SSAT or ISEE or WISC for middle school/high school. They just do their testing in the admissions process unlike public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind testing per se, but dislike multiple choice tests for elementary school children, and won't let mine anywhere near the PARCC. If the test included putting together a presentation, group work, reciting poetry, an art project, performing a song and dance number, creative writing, a choice of essay questions to respond to, speaking a foreign language, manipulating spread sheets, a spelling bee, a geography bee or any other vaguely academic exercise I thought my children might benefit from, I'd be cheering for the PARCC.

The private schools have it right- just teach and learn already, forget the bloody tests, at least for the high SES kids.

Private schools require testing like the wippsi which is an IQ test for preschoolers for admissions.

that's before they're in school. What about afterwards?

Sure. ERBs and you bet parents keep close track of how their child is doing on those tests. How else would you know how your kid stacks up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will your DC get into college? Without testing? What about when in college? No finals? No bar exam? Oh, yeah, I can see them just letting your DC operate on people without taking and passing any exam. Blurry vision? Oh, you'll need an eye test, right? Wrong! Can't have my DC all stressed out about failing that test as well. Harden the f up. This whole world has tests waiting for your DC. Get real.

Funny, back in the day when I was in public school, we had much less standardized testing and somehow I managed to do well on the college boards, the GRE and my drivers test

Which "day" was that? I was in elementary school 37 years ago and we had standardized tests, Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the California Achievement Tests, the tests took a few days.

Anyone who went to public school has experienced standardized testing -- some privates too -- but they weren't as punishing as tests are today. If you don't want to believe that, fine, but opting out of some of today's ridiculous testing is not going to hobble kids' ability to get by in the modern world. It's just not.

It's a very weak argument to say that standardized testing in grade school on up is needed for people to successfully handle testing requirements after high school graduation.

What does " but they weren't as punishing as tests are today" even mean? You argument is ridiculous, you are talking about less than 2 school days of testing time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will your DC get into college? Without testing? What about when in college? No finals? No bar exam? Oh, yeah, I can see them just letting your DC operate on people without taking and passing any exam. Blurry vision? Oh, you'll need an eye test, right? Wrong! Can't have my DC all stressed out about failing that test as well. Harden the f up. This whole world has tests waiting for your DC. Get real.

Funny, back in the day when I was in public school, we had much less standardized testing and somehow I managed to do well on the college boards, the GRE and my drivers test

Which "day" was that? I was in elementary school 37 years ago and we had standardized tests, Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the California Achievement Tests, the tests took a few days.

Anyone who went to public school has experienced standardized testing -- some privates too -- but they weren't as punishing as tests are today. If you don't want to believe that, fine, but opting out of some of today's ridiculous testing is not going to hobble kids' ability to get by in the modern world. It's just not.

It's a very weak argument to say that standardized testing in grade school on up is needed for people to successfully handle testing requirements after high school graduation.

What does " but they weren't as punishing as tests are today" even mean? You argument is ridiculous, you are talking about less than 2 school days of testing time.

There was no up--front test prep -- not even any advance notice for the standardized tests.

You many not think today's standardized testing is a big deal, but many people do -- in many place besides DC, and many are protesting or opting out. and face it -- it does nothing to help you pass your driver's test. What a ridiculous argument.

[Anonymous]

I took the ITBS and a couple other tests as a kid and we did a ton of prep for them. I remember as well that the teachers were way more nervous than we kids.

And, yes, it helped me as someone who has average intelligence and went to average schools become really good at taking tests, which has served me well all my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will your DC get into college? Without testing? What about when in college? No finals? No bar exam? Oh, yeah, I can see them just letting your DC operate on people without taking and passing any exam. Blurry vision? Oh, you'll need an eye test, right? Wrong! Can't have my DC all stressed out about failing that test as well. Harden the f up. This whole world has tests waiting for your DC. Get real.

Funny, back in the day when I was in public school, we had much less standardized testing and somehow I managed to do well on the college boards, the GRE and my drivers test

Which "day" was that? I was in elementary school 37 years ago and we had standardized tests, Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the California Achievement Tests, the tests took a few days.

Anyone who went to public school has experienced standardized testing -- some privates too -- but they weren't as punishing as tests are today. If you don't want to believe that, fine, but opting out of some of today's ridiculous testing is not going to hobble kids' ability to get by in the modern world. It's just not.

It's a very weak argument to say that standardized testing in grade school on up is needed for people to successfully handle testing requirements after high school graduation.

What does " but they weren't as punishing as tests are today" even mean? You argument is ridiculous, you are talking about less than 2 school days of testing time.

There was no up--front test prep -- not even any advance notice for the standardized tests.

You many not think today's standardized testing is a big deal, but many people do -- in many place besides DC, and many are protesting or opting out. and face it -- it does nothing to help you pass your driver's test. What a ridiculous argument.

Oh, you mean the mass hysteria over time wasted due to test prep??? It has been greatly exaggerated. My kids had more test prep for the DC-CAS, or did you opt your snowflake out of that too? So will you opt out of SAT? AP? And SRI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand these endless threads parsing statistically insignificant (likely) differences in test scores indicating the "best schools."

I am pretty sure my ADHD child, undiagnosed until this summer, did not score well and is bringing the school down.

I can't stand that testing as it exists now isn't really measuring anything and is widely disparaged, until the day the scores come out and it is suddenly incredibly meaningful and telling.

I was part of the education reform movement that led us into testing (Data! we need data!), and now I want out. How realistic is it to opt out of testing in DC (when private schools are out of reach)? What happens if you opt out?

You can find a way to opt out of the 6 or 8 days of actual testing, probably. But you need to know that exam content drives the curriculum on the macro and most of the micro level in public school. Even at the DCPS and PCS that claim it does not.

That is true of many schools in DC, but definitely not all. Have had private discussions with school leaders who specifically state that they are going to do X or Y because it is mission aligned or developmentally appropriate, even though they know it won't help with testing and may hurt.

Not saying that no schools ever have a random unit in social studies that has nothing to do with PARCC. Of course they do, especially at your Janneys and CMIs. What I -am- saying is that the heart of the curriculum is shaped around the metric used at the end of the year. Your school leader friends will confirm this, because it's true of every public school district in the Washington area and probably beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind testing per se, but dislike multiple choice tests for elementary school children, and won't let mine anywhere near the PARCC. If the test included putting together a presentation, group work, reciting poetry, an art project, performing a song and dance number, creative writing, a choice of essay questions to respond to, speaking a foreign language, manipulating spread sheets, a spelling bee, a geography bee or any other vaguely academic exercise I thought my children might benefit from, I'd be cheering for the PARCC.

The private schools have it right- just teach and learn already, forget the bloody tests, at least for the high SES kids.

Private schools require testing like the wippsi which is an IQ test for preschoolers for admissions.

that's before they're in school. What about afterwards?

Sure. ERBs and you bet parents keep close track of how their child is doing on those tests. How else would you know how your kid stacks up?

Actually, a number of the more competitive independent schools in DC don't do ERBs. Ours doesn't. I know, I know, I have no idea why I'm on this thread ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind testing per se, but dislike multiple choice tests for elementary school children, and won't let mine anywhere near the PARCC. If the test included putting together a presentation, group work, reciting poetry, an art project, performing a song and dance number, creative writing, a choice of essay questions to respond to, speaking a foreign language, manipulating spread sheets, a spelling bee, a geography bee or any other vaguely academic exercise I thought my children might benefit from, I'd be cheering for the PARCC.

The private schools have it right- just teach and learn already, forget the bloody tests, at least for the high SES kids.

Private schools require testing like the wippsi which is an IQ test for preschoolers for admissions.

that's before they're in school. What about afterwards?

Sure. ERBs and you bet parents keep close track of how their child is doing on those tests. How else would you know how your kid stacks up?

Actually, a number of the more competitive independent schools in DC don't do ERBs. Ours doesn't. I know, I know, I have no idea why I'm on this thread ...

Well, many private schools do have ERBs and even had them when my DH and I went to school and we are in our 50ties. While DH always felt they were a waste of time (too easy), the results keeps private schools accountable to a national standard aside from just grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will your DC get into college? Without testing? What about when in college? No finals? No bar exam? Oh, yeah, I can see them just letting your DC operate on people without taking and passing any exam. Blurry vision? Oh, you'll need an eye test, right? Wrong! Can't have my DC all stressed out about failing that test as well. Harden the f up. This whole world has tests waiting for your DC. Get real.

Funny, back in the day when I was in public school, we had much less standardized testing and somehow I managed to do well on the college boards, the GRE and my drivers test

Which "day" was that? I was in elementary school 37 years ago and we had standardized tests, Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the California Achievement Tests, the tests took a few days.

Anyone who went to public school has experienced standardized testing -- some privates too -- but they weren't as punishing as tests are today. If you don't want to believe that, fine, but opting out of some of today's ridiculous testing is not going to hobble kids' ability to get by in the modern world. It's just not.

It's a very weak argument to say that standardized testing in grade school on up is needed for people to successfully handle testing requirements after high school graduation.

What does " but they weren't as punishing as tests are today" even mean? You argument is ridiculous, you are talking about less than 2 school days of testing time.

There was no up--front test prep -- not even any advance notice for the standardized tests.

You many not think today's standardized testing is a big deal, but many people do -- in many place besides DC, and many are protesting or opting out. and face it -- it does nothing to help you pass your driver's test. What a ridiculous argument.

Oh, you mean the mass hysteria over time wasted due to test prep??? It has been greatly exaggerated. My kids had more test prep for the DC-CAS, or did you opt your snowflake out of that too? So will you opt out of SAT? AP? And SRI?

Ok, so you're strongly opinionated. That doesn't mean you're right and everyone who disagrees with you is wrong.