Reply to How do I opt my child out of testing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
1. By not centering learning around the tests -- which are to make administrators look as good as possible -- not to help students or teachers -- for them the tests have the opposite effect.

2. By not teaching to the test all year round -- just have some time set aside for the tests themselves -- those results would truly show how kids are doing

3. By realizing that "failing schools" is a misnomer implying that the the main, perhaps only, cause of poor learning is the school building itself -- this is really crazy, as I think everyone realizes (at some level) that it's first the kids in the school that make the difference -- and its the limitations of their parents that make the difference in the kids.  Next come the teachers --and teachers are limited by these standardized tests, as they have been saying for years.  Last is the "school" itself -- if it's in poor condition or has limited space that will have some effect, but we all know good students (maybe ourselves) can come out of such schools.
[/quote]I'd like to see teachers being given credit for moving a child reading at 3rd grade level to 6th grade level in a year, even if the child is actually an 8th grader.
However, I also want to think that the concepts being taught to my 4th grader in Ms Olsen's class are the same as he'd learn in Mr Jones' 4th grade class down the hall or across town. FWIW, I'm also a proponent of repeating grades if the material isn't mastered, and more identification and remediation with learning-disabled kids or those who are just behind. This is one reason why I'm fine with tests twice a year. I'd want to know if my child had lost a year, or half a year of gains in school, if my child had made no progress or less progress tan his peers.  And I'd like to have a way to identify ineffective teaching, or a child who cannot learn in the current setting. 
If you look at the special needs forum, you'll see[b] parents complaining that they CAN'T get their child tested or evaluated in a timely fashion in order to qualify for IEP's or 504s.[/b] And over here we have parents complaining about their kids being tested :?  :? 
Unlike private schools, public schools don't get to pick their students, and schools can't ensure that the students are liberated from the hobbling effects of poverty. That isn't their battle to fight.[/quote]

These are not the same standardized tests, though, are they?

Let's be careful to differentiate between the broad term "standardized tests" and PARCC or DC-CAS used for NCLB purposes.   I'm sure central office would love to obfuscate and confuse parents by referring broadly to standardized test when they know very well they are not referring to the same thing that parents are. It's teaching to the test and over-testing and too much test prep that parents (and teachers) oppose -- not "standardized testing."  Make sure to pin them down when they talk in generalities or when you're not sure exactly what they mean. [/quote]

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