Can we opt out of the MSA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is in Kindergarten so not an issue this year. He is doing just fine and I'm sure would do OK on tests. However, he does get very nervous for these kinds of things and I hear the schools often try to scare kids to make sure they do well.

I find it hard to believe it could be mandatory since it isn't part of their grades for the year, correct?
Has anyone ever thought about this?
I know parents are protesting and opting out in other states and I was wondering if there was a group here in Maryland that is dong that.

Life in mcps is a lot of testing. Of course a kindergartener will be nervous but if you are going to keep him in public school, he needs to become comfortable taking standardized tests. As parents, we shouldn't opt out of things just because they are uncomfortable for our kids. How else will they learn to deal?

[Anonymous]

The tests don't start till third grade. Your child will change a lot by then.

[Anonymous]

It is not a very hard test either. Relax. They are well prepared by the school for this test, because they are testing the school not the kid.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the mcps teacher for posting! I opened up the thread, but I can see that there is little interest on this forum. I don't know how to connect with others who are like-minded (pta will not allow messages of this ilk on their list-serve) Dr. Starr needs the input of parents and teachers, but I don't know how else to express my dismay about the test, particularly this year, other than opting out.

[Anonymous]

Tweet Starr on it. Seriously. Sadly, he pays more attention to his Twitter feed than many other things. At the last BoE meeting he was busy taking pictures for his account. Plus when you tweet him on the issue your tweet can be seen by all.

[Anonymous]

Re: the MCPS teacher who wishes parents would start to raise a fuss about taking the MSA this year.

We're honestly curious about *how* the MSA doesn't align with curriculum 2.0. Why wouldn't a standard test of reading and math skills be valid? Aren't decimals decimals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you to the mcps teacher for posting! I opened up the thread, but I can see that there is little interest on this forum. I don't know how to connect with others who are like-minded (pta will not allow messages of this ilk on their list-serve) Dr. Starr needs the input of parents and teachers, but I don't know how else to express my dismay about the test, particularly this year, other than opting out.

I am interested in opting out my child. What is the procedure? Do schools allow this? If I opt out, does the child have to still come to school?

[Anonymous]

I don't get this at all. Why is it a problem for your child to take a test? That is a routine part of school. We took standardized tests every year in elementary school in the 80s. No one thought there kid was entitled to opt out.

[Anonymous]

Is not attending the only way to opt out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: the MCPS teacher who wishes parents would start to raise a fuss about taking the MSA this year.

We're honestly curious about *how* the MSA doesn't align with curriculum 2.0. Why wouldn't a standard test of reading and math skills be valid? Aren't decimals decimals?

Yes, decimals are decimals. But the various aspects of decimals are not necessarily taught at the same time under 2.0 as under the curriculum aligned to the MSA.

And the MSA asks for "brief constructed responses", which are scored according to a specific rubric, which the students have to be taught. No more BCRs under Curriculum 2.0. It's lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: the MCPS teacher who wishes parents would start to raise a fuss about taking the MSA this year.

We're honestly curious about *how* the MSA doesn't align with curriculum 2.0. Why wouldn't a standard test of reading and math skills be valid? Aren't decimals decimals?

night and day

Tests do not always mirror each other.

MSA prototype - http://www.mdk12.org/share/msa_publicrelease/2008/2008RdgMSAGr3.pdf
Scroll down to see the questions.

PARCC ELA prototype - http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCGrade3.pdf

bottom line - Kids who do well on the MSA will not necessarily do well on PARCC. Kids, however, who do well on PARCC will breeze through the MSA, as it's kid stuff!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get this at all. Why is it a problem for your child to take a test? That is a routine part of school. We took standardized tests every year in elementary school in the 80s. No one thought there kid was entitled to opt out.

These tests are nothing like they were back then. Did you really take tests for a full week or more? Did you practice for the tests beforehand, taking even more time out of learning? Did your school have pep rallies to get kids to do their best? Who was the testing for in the 80s? To check students' progress or measure the quality of the school? In the 70s we took standardized tests but it only lasted a couple days. The results were somewhat informative.

Do the MSA's measure anything that is useful to know about a kid? That's what I am wondering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

These tests are nothing like they were back then. Did you really take tests for a full week or more? Did you practice for the tests beforehand, taking even more time out of learning? Did your school have pep rallies to get kids to do their best? Who was the testing for in the 80s? To check students' progress or measure the quality of the school? In the 70s we took standardized tests but it only lasted a couple days. The results were somewhat informative.

What school are you at, where the kids take tests for a full week or more? There is a difference between taking tests over a period of a week and doing nothing all week except take tests.

[Anonymous]

I'm not saying they test all day, but it used to be the testing period covered about 2 days and now it's much longer.

[Anonymous]

The testing period is 4 days--2 of math, 2 of reading. However, to truly "opt out" as you are discussing, you'd have to keep your child home from school for the entire testing window, which includes time for makeups--about three weeks. So unless you want to keep your kid home for the better part of a month, there's nothing you can do.

By the way, it is not MCPS's decision to stop the testing--the BOE and Dr Starr would love to. It is a federal government mandate, so unless permission comes from the Feds to the state BoE, MCPS cannot do anything.