Anonymous wrote:I sometimes wonder if there is a shill from the WTU who complains about all and any testing which could reveal holes in the schooling our kids are receiving...

I wonder about a shill from central office -- terrified that opting out might catch on among the kids who can be counted on to score well on the tests.

That's what DCPS likes most about your kids -- that they make the adults looks good, so you can bet they will try to shame you into having your kids take the test and threaten you with damage to their records.

Sometimes I think the reason some high SES parents go along with the tests is because of their own academic competitiveness. I wish more would become anti- NCLB standardized testing activists like so many other public school parents across the country.

Anonymous wrote:I sometimes wonder if there is a shill from the WTU who complains about all and any testing which could reveal holes in the schooling our kids are receiving...

Why would it be from the WTU, more like from administrators? WTU doesn't run the schools, write the curriculum, hire the teachers, or write the tests. But keep blaming the teachers and the union if it makes you feel better. While you're busy blaming WTU, get active in your local school and try to make it better : )

Anonymous wrote:Opted my kids out without any pushback from Principals.

I will just keep my kids home during that time (yes, I do work). I don't expect the school to provide another activity for them. It is only a few hours on a few days.

And the practice days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - if you are so opposed to testing why do you send your child to public schools? Its not just about the couple days spent taking the test but the fact that the curriculum is designed around the test. If you are so opposed to the test that you would consider not sending your child to school those days why would you send them at all.

Are you paid to sit around and bully parents who are taking a stand against a pernicious trend in PUBLIC education? Or do you do it for fun?

The pernicious trend is the watering down of education, and the un-evenness of educational experience. Without testing, how will we know that Child A can't do division, and isn't ready for preAlgebra?

ask their teachers

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to know what the formal "opt out" process is for DCPS. I am very much against PARCC/corporate testing and its effect on the curriculum. However, I don't want my child penalized for not taking the exam and I don't want him to sit in a room twiddling his thumbs all day. Ideas?

keep him home. The school isn't obligated to provide entertainment or instruction for your child while he is opting out of participating in the school-wide activity. Testing requires extra hands on deck(volunteer proctors) even without the conscientious objectors underfoot

no need to be so mean about it. OP is just asking a simple question -- and more and more people are opting out of these types of tests across the country. I'm surprised this hasn't come up more in DC

Anonymous wrote:There is no formal opt out (confirmed at a recent meeting with DCPS PARCC officials). So your options are medical reasons or truancy, neither of which - to me! - seem wroth the trouble of potentially harming your child's records.

or just taking a couple of days off as for a family vacation or emergency. Don't worry about "harming your child's records" - this is just a fear tactic.

I sometimes wonder if there is a shill from the WTU who complains about all and any testing which could reveal holes in the schooling our kids are receiving...

here's an old testing whine from 2010...
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/113323.page#948220

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - if you are so opposed to testing why do you send your child to public schools? Its not just about the couple days spent taking the test but the fact that the curriculum is designed around the test. If you are so opposed to the test that you would consider not sending your child to school those days why would you send them at all.

Are you paid to sit around and bully parents who are taking a stand against a pernicious trend in PUBLIC education? Or do you do it for fun?

I'm not that poster, but it's a great question. There are many alternatives available to a parent so passionate about avoiding standardized tests.

Or, same parent can sit around and gnash teeth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - if you are so opposed to testing why do you send your child to public schools? Its not just about the couple days spent taking the test but the fact that the curriculum is designed around the test. If you are so opposed to the test that you would consider not sending your child to school those days why would you send them at all.

Oh, I dunno. Maybe the OP likes the rest of what happens at school. Since many people seem to think that these tests are NBD, obviously y'all must know that standardized testing is only a small part of a public school experience.

back at you. The "rest of what happens at school" -- recess, friends, kind teachers, lunch, aftercare, gym -- can be had at any not-public school. Even 'walkability' in the District of Columbia, which is the geographic location that we're talking about here (MoCO, Iowa and California readers stay silent now).

Curriculum is 80% of the game, my friend. And standardized testing drives the curriculum now.

The rest can be replicated at St. Saint Name Here parochial school and/or Expensive Academy Day School independent school.

Anonymous wrote:^^^ at least now we know the level of ignorance we are dealing with. Nobody is against testing. Read a bit more on the subject.

maybe you should read, check the archives...there have been people protesting against testing since forever...doesn't matter if it was the CAS or the PIA or the predecessors...

^^^ at least now we know the level of ignorance we are dealing with. Nobody is against testing. Read a bit more on the subject.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - if you are so opposed to testing why do you send your child to public schools? Its not just about the couple days spent taking the test but the fact that the curriculum is designed around the test. If you are so opposed to the test that you would consider not sending your child to school those days why would you send them at all.

Are you paid to sit around and bully parents who are taking a stand against a pernicious trend in PUBLIC education? Or do you do it for fun?

The pernicious trend is the watering down of education, and the un-evenness of educational experience. Without testing, how will we know that Child A can't do division, and isn't ready for preAlgebra?

To give an idea how normalized the process of opting out can become, here is a link to Fairport NY school district where the SUPERINTENDENT notifies parents how to do it and what their rights are. It is shameful that DCPS doesn't provide a similar clear communication to tax payers

http://www.fairport.org/news.cfm?story=869

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - if you are so opposed to testing why do you send your child to public schools? Its not just about the couple days spent taking the test but the fact that the curriculum is designed around the test. If you are so opposed to the test that you would consider not sending your child to school those days why would you send them at all.

Are you paid to sit around and bully parents who are taking a stand against a pernicious trend in PUBLIC education? Or do you do it for fun?