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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PARCC started with about 22 states implementing it, now only 3 states including DC are left.

Part of the reason many states dropped it is due to parent boycotts leading to unreliable data. There is power in numbers, and maybe that power could lead DC to developing an assessment better for our children.[/quote]

In opting out several times, I've learned how to keep things simple.  All I do before testing week is shoot a senior admin at our kids' DCPS a 3-line email stating the following:

1) My intention to opt out (don't ask for permission; you won't get it, DC didn't include a provision for opting-out under Obama's Every Student Succeeds Act, update to No Child Left Behind). 
2) My intention to remove my kid from the building during testing time blocks, after having dropped them off at school to counted present when attendance is taken first thing in the morning.  
3) My objection to PARCC.  Be brief.

CC yourself on the email, to be sure that you have a record in case a social worker contacts you, or you get a court summons (extremely unlikely but not out of the question).

I used to contact OSSE to ask for permission to opt out.  I also used to meet with admins at the school to talk through opt out issues.  Don't bother, not worth the unpleasantness (arm-twisting, guilt trip, even mild threats of legal proceedings).  Know that the only tool that OSSE and DCPS can use to punish yo is to go at your family for subpar attendance.  They're very unlikely to bother, particularly during the pandemic, and even if they do, if your kid's attendance is good, they'll back off soon enouygh.  Nobody from OSSE or DCPS has ever followed up with our family about opting out.  Also know that unless more than 5% of the families in a particular school opt out--unheard of in DC--no teacher's IMPACT score could possibly be effected by your opting out.  Also know that the Dept of Education has never gone at any public school in the country for failing to meet the 95% participation mark. Idle threats.

Tips for anybody prepared to go through the hassle:

*It's very rare for a DC public school to accommodate families who want to opt out IN the building. I've heard of Janney students being permitted to wait out testing time blocks in the school library. 
*As a general rule, if you opt out in DC you either need to keep your kid home during testing week, or send them to school and remove them during testing time blocks (like you'd remove them for a medical appointment, with the front office calling up to the classroom teacher to send the kid down to the front office, where you're waiting for them).
*If you keep your kid out of school during testing week, be sure to shoot your school's registrar an email each morning before the first bell, claiming that your child is sick that day, or stating that the child will not attend school because you're opting out.  CC yourself on these emails.
*If you go to the school to remove the kid during testing time blocks, take screen shots of your daily entries on the sign in/sign out sheets at the front office on testing days. Save the photos.
*Role play with your kid a little to prep them for other kids asking why they're not taking the test, perhaps objecting to how they're getting out of it ("Not fair! Your family is weird!".  Teach your kid that the less said, the better.

Good luck. [/quote]

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