Opting out of PARCC testing in DC?

[Anonymous]

It is a great test. Unfortunately the current school system in the US is lacking. I am from Europe and I am scared that my kids are getting inferior education in the US (my husband is American). The teacher of my third grader distributed a division packet, where it was stated that a number divided by zero IS zero. I was petrified when I saw it!
I am thankful for the fact that this test will help our kids to get better quality of education and as the time goes by, underperforming teachers will be eliminated or will have to work harder to keep their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone ever get an answer on how to opt out?

I contacted OSSE reps multiple times via email. After I complained about their lack of response someone said they'd get back to me. That was three weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Why would you contact OSSE? Just contact your principal.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]It is a great test. Unfortunately the current school system in the US is lacking. I am from Europe and I am scared that my kids are getting inferior education in the US (my husband is American). The teacher of my third grader distributed a division packet, where it was stated that a number divided by zero IS zero. I was petrified when I saw it!
I am thankful for the fact that this test will help our kids to get better quality of education and as the time goes by, underperforming teachers will be eliminated or will have to work harder to keep their jobs. [/quote]

Umm... time to check your math facts.

[Anonymous]

My 3rd grader uses the keyboard daily so that isn't an issue. And why on earth are your kids "stressed out" by testing? Perhaps you are projecting. Considering they will be subject to these tests now and throughout their entire educational career you might want to consider homeschooling. In high school they will not be able to graduate without them. k

So I ask again, what are you hoping to accomplish? Instilling fear in your child for your own political grandstanding? It isn't to the benefit of your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grader uses the keyboard daily so that isn't an issue. And why on earth are your kids "stressed out" by testing? Perhaps you are projecting. Considering they will be subject to these tests now and throughout their entire educational career you might want to consider homeschooling. In high school they will not be able to graduate without them. k

So I ask again, what are you hoping to accomplish? Instilling fear in your child for your own political grandstanding? It isn't to the benefit of your child.

Then more of half of American kids won't graduate. The tests are designed for the majority of kids to fail.

[Anonymous]

No. They are designed to force teachers into adopting conforming curricula that is more consistent across all strata of society. No one should pass high school if they don't know a standardized set of knowledge and skills. Saying otherwise implies that you think it is okay for education to be dumbed down for "those kids" so that they can appear to be achieving. It is a way of ameliorating white guilt if we fictitiously prop up graduation rates with meaningless pass rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think opting out will accomplish? What does it serve?

It means my kid doesn't have to suffer the stress of test that is used to fire teachers, fire principals, encourage cheating by administrators, or to pay them bonuses.

What does my kid get out of the tests? Nothing in the aforementioned list.

High stakes annual testing from 2nd grade on up is madness.

And what is your plant to yank your kid away from the whole curriculum that is created backwards from the "high stakes annual testing" ? I will stipulate that multiplication is multiplication and critically necessary in life -- testing school, Waldorf, kibbutz or Sidwell.

But what about the other 80% of the curriculum that is discretionary? What kind of stand are YOU going to take using your child as a pawn to show the world your displeasure with that ^^ shit show? Keep them home from school except for the 4 hours a week they have math and PE ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grader uses the keyboard daily so that isn't an issue. And why on earth are your kids "stressed out" by testing? Perhaps you are projecting. Considering they will be subject to these tests now and throughout their entire educational career you might want to consider homeschooling. In high school they will not be able to graduate without them. k

So I ask again, what are you hoping to accomplish? Instilling fear in your child for your own political grandstanding? It isn't to the benefit of your child.

Then more of half of American kids won't graduate. The tests are designed for the majority of kids to fail.

The tests are designed to test kids against life skills that they would need to be marketable and to survive in the outside world. These days more and more blue-collar jobs are being outsourced or eliminated by automation, and even some white collar jobs are seeing the same fate. If your kid is going to be failing these tests, he's probably also going to be failing LIFE. You are setting kids up for lifelong failure by not raising the bar. There's a lot more at stake here than some test - or even some teacher's job for that matter. You people need to pull your heads out of the sand and understand the future.

[Anonymous]

This is utterly hilarious. I'm sure parents of children at private schools all over the DC Metro area are laughing hysterically at the notion that PARCC testing is key to children being successful. It is my understanding that there are people who are paid to come and shill for the testing machine on social media. It has to be that, because it seems hard to believe that anyone could be so stupid as to believe that the PARCC has any impact on anything other than the ability to punish teachers. Oh, it also makes money for Pearson shareholders, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is utterly hilarious. I'm sure parents of children at private schools all over the DC Metro area are laughing hysterically at the notion that PARCC testing is key to children being successful. It is my understanding that there are people who are paid to come and shill for the testing machine on social media. It has to be that, because it seems hard to believe that anyone could be so stupid as to believe that the PARCC has any impact on anything other than the ability to punish teachers. Oh, it also makes money for Pearson shareholders, right?

I totally agree. The desperation of PARCC supporters is palpable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is utterly hilarious. I'm sure parents of children at private schools all over the DC Metro area are laughing hysterically at the notion that PARCC testing is key to children being successful. It is my understanding that there are people who are paid to come and shill for the testing machine on social media. It has to be that, because it seems hard to believe that anyone could be so stupid as to believe that the PARCC has any impact on anything other than the ability to punish teachers. Oh, it also makes money for Pearson shareholders, right?

It's not so hilarious that we have been graduating millions of kids each year who are at best semi-literate, who can't make change, who can't point out the Pacific Ocean on a world map, who are barely employable, who either can't get into college or who would need serious remediation if they did.

Sadly you can't see beyond your own myopic, self-centered ideas to understand there's a whole lot more at stake here than your quaint little notions about "teachers being punished" or "Pearson shareholders..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is utterly hilarious. I'm sure parents of children at private schools all over the DC Metro area are laughing hysterically at the notion that PARCC testing is key to children being successful. It is my understanding that there are people who are paid to come and shill for the testing machine on social media. It has to be that, because it seems hard to believe that anyone could be so stupid as to believe that the PARCC has any impact on anything other than the ability to punish teachers. Oh, it also makes money for Pearson shareholders, right?

It's not so hilarious that we have been graduating millions of kids each year who are at best semi-literate, who can't make change, who can't point out the Pacific Ocean on a world map, who are barely employable, who either can't get into college or who would need serious remediation if they did.

Sadly you can't see beyond your own myopic, self-centered ideas to understand there's a whole lot more at stake here than your quaint little notions about "teachers being punished" or "Pearson shareholders..."

But nothing I see regarding this test will help solve your concerns. The PARCC testing is eating up an enormous chunk of the school year and is not going to help these kids suceed. Although each student may have only 10 days of testing but I know that at our school at least the testing and testing arrangements are consuming the energies of the administration, specialist and teachers - even more so at schools without extra teachers hired by PTAs. And the kids are going to struggle to even read and understand these tests - much less take them. And fasced with this seemingly hopeless struggle many just give up. I am dreading proctoring these exams - it is so disheartening to watch students be further shamed by testing. The resources and time these tests use would be much better spent teaching these kids, tutoring the ones who need extra help, bringing back sucessful programs such as Head Start.

I applaud any parents how protest this test by not allowing their children to participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is utterly hilarious. I'm sure parents of children at private schools all over the DC Metro area are laughing hysterically at the notion that PARCC testing is key to children being successful. It is my understanding that there are people who are paid to come and shill for the testing machine on social media. It has to be that, because it seems hard to believe that anyone could be so stupid as to believe that the PARCC has any impact on anything other than the ability to punish teachers. Oh, it also makes money for Pearson shareholders, right?

It's not so hilarious that we have been graduating millions of kids each year who are at best semi-literate, who can't make change, who can't point out the Pacific Ocean on a world map, who are barely employable, who either can't get into college or who would need serious remediation if they did.

Sadly you can't see beyond your own myopic, self-centered ideas to understand there's a whole lot more at stake here than your quaint little notions about "teachers being punished" or "Pearson shareholders..."

But nothing I see regarding this test will help solve your concerns. The PARCC testing is eating up an enormous chunk of the school year and is not going to help these kids suceed. Although each student may have only 10 days of testing but I know that at our school at least the testing and testing arrangements are consuming the energies of the administration, specialist and teachers - even more so at schools without extra teachers hired by PTAs. And the kids are going to struggle to even read and understand these tests - much less take them. And fasced with this seemingly hopeless struggle many just give up. I am dreading proctoring these exams - it is so disheartening to watch students be further shamed by testing. The resources and time these tests use would be much better spent teaching these kids, tutoring the ones who need extra help, bringing back sucessful programs such as Head Start.

I applaud any parents how protest this test by not allowing their children to participate.

+1 If tests actually helped students improve skills and increase knowledge, I would be all for them. But, it doesn't work that way.