That's good news, but sounds like there will be no way out of testing in the fall, and possibly a repeat of PARCC in the spring of 2022. This is just kicking the can down the road due to comply with DOE imperatives.

OSSE requested a waiver for all spring 2021 assessments. I'm not sure there is a public announcement yet, a notice went out today through DCPS internal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who has been DEEP IN IT with education research, assessment, and covid, yes, they want you to take the tests. No, there is absolutely no benefit to you or your child. Frankly even the people at the highest levels realize there is very little validity to the results this year. This is a result of the fact that the opt outs are non-random, the tests weren't meant to be done online, the students aren't prepared for this situation, many children don't have the lexical/technical abilities to perform to the best of their ability, many have received non-systematic instruction, etc. I can keep going on. This means that you opting out has little impact overall

As someone involved with education research, I should encourage you to participate. As a reasonable human being who has children who I know and love, no. There's no good reason to subject them to that this year.

As someone involved with scientific research in another field,
I encourage you to reject education research and testing and never let your kid take another PARCC test.
Standardized testing is really really flawed and only parents opting out in large numbers will get it to go away.

No "scientific researcher" would call to reject evidence-based practice.

Because the US Dept of Education is requiring the tests this year. DC needs federal funds for school. This is not Bowser's decisions. It's Biden's!

Since they have to be given in person, I think they should skip them this year anyway. Kids have gotten so little in-person instruction; why waste the little time they have on a standardized test?

Biden Administration says state tests must be given this year, but not necessarily the long tests normally given, or tests given this spring. The tests could be given over the summer or even in the fall. Will be interesting to see how the story plays out in DC.

I have never even thought about opting out of PARCC before now. I can’t believe they are even considering doing it this year and so I am considering opting out. My child’s participation and results will have absolutely no positive effect either for him or for the school. They will do what they are going to do in fall regardless of whether he takes the test. Why wouldn’t I give him that time away from his screen rather than sit and do such a pointless exercise?

Anonymous wrote:Op here. One of my kids struggles with anxiety. He got 4s on last years parcc, but it wasn't worth his negative feelings toward it. The other tests fine, but I just don't believe in the premise of this test. I also think PARCC is not the best assessment out there. I think DC should ditch it like other states have. Why are they pushing to take this test when kids have already had a difficult year? What is the purpose of it other than financial perks to the companies?

Comparing growth (or lack of) across schools would give you some sense of distance learning quality. I hear your concerns for your own child and am not saying its worth it. But just an honest answer to the question you asked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No DC public school will tell you that you can opt out. You simply do it if you want. The only tool admins have to come at you with us attendance, meaning no threat whatsoever this year if your kid continues to log in daily. We’ve opted out of PARCC several times without facing consequences despite having been told we couldn’t.

Thanks for this. I've always wanted to opt out but didn't have the guts. Kudos to you.

+1

Just don't have your kid attend on PARCC days.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (which replaced No Child Left Behind under Obama), states can develop opt out-policies and practices for parents, or not develop them. Only half a dozen states have developed opt-out policies. DC has no opt-out policy. If you contact OSSE, their testing admins will tell you that every kid has to take PARCC. This is bunk.

What I've done in the past few years, is arranged with admins at our DCPS for me to come get my kids the minute testing starts, and return them to class the minute test resumes, like signing out to take your kid to a medical appointment. I can't trust the school to supervise the kids during testing time, so this is a hassle (but worth it). I photographed my signatures on the sign-out sheets, with "OPTING OUT OF PARCC" in the "Reason for Signing Out" column, in case we end up dealing with social workers and judges over attendance/criminal child neglect charges later. Nobody has ever followed up from DCPS' end.

This year, what are they going to do to us for opting out? The reality is that they've lost their in-person attendance cudgel.

Did you know that in Indiana, one of the last states to hang onto PARCC, so many parents were opting out in 2019, almost one-third, that the state substituted the 10-hour PARCC for a 4-hour state test? One the main complaints about PARCC is that it's much too long for elementary school students. The longer the test, the more Pearson Education staff get paid to develop and grade tests, and the richer the Pearson CEO, James Fallon gets. Pearson isn't even an American company, they're incorporated in London.

I am not in DC but thinking about opting out of our state test. It will be given remotely. If child takes it, I doubt it would show learning loss. He is actually getting better according to I-Ready which I am also not a fan of. I don’t want the school to think it’s their achievement. It’s due to me sitting with him every day doing math, giving him books to read, and correcting his writing, plus his natural abilities.
The only reason I am still considering tests is that they may have leveled math in middle school. But they may not and I just don’t know. They keep us in the dark. But judging by the equity talk and the tendency to take away all the good stuff, I say high chances of canceling math tracks at least in 6th.

Anonymous wrote:This year it's critical for your child to take the PARCC to show the widespread learning loss due to school closures. Teachers don't want your children to take the PARCC because then there's evidence that they didn't effectively do their jobs remotely. In fact, WTU advocated for no testing this year for this very reason.

Given the preponderance of WTU members coming on this forum to attempt to shame parents who want in person school, I wouldn't be surprised if this is another concerted WTU effort to try to get parents to opt out of PARCC.

Parents, please don't opt out of PARCC if it's offered. It's critical to have PARCC scores as evidence of learning loss so schools can get more funding to remedy this.

Parcc doesn’t show learning loss. The 4th grade parcc tests completely different standards than the third grade parcc. You can’t really compare year to year. You can say your child didn’t master this years standards but can’t say they lost learning from last year because it’s not the same standards. The only people who think parcc is a good test are people in testing companies. Most states of gotten rid of it. Your best bet to show learning loss is iReady or RI. This would show your child has lost skills.

Anonymous wrote:Curious how my kid will take PARCC from home since our DCPS isn’t offering In-person learning. How will that work?

The testing window is expanding from 4 weeks to 8-10 weeks to administer parcc. This is going to a massive disruption (even more than usual). From what I can understand they will not allow students to take it at home and they will have to come into the building to take it. This is an absolute waste of time this year. FYI subs can’t administer parcc only certified teachers. So start thinking of who will be pulled to tear the kids who come in from home.

This year it's critical for your child to take the PARCC to show the widespread learning loss due to school closures. Teachers don't want your children to take the PARCC because then there's evidence that they didn't effectively do their jobs remotely. In fact, WTU advocated for no testing this year for this very reason.

Given the preponderance of WTU members coming on this forum to attempt to shame parents who want in person school, I wouldn't be surprised if this is another concerted WTU effort to try to get parents to opt out of PARCC.

Parents, please don't opt out of PARCC if it's offered. It's critical to have PARCC scores as evidence of learning loss so schools can get more funding to remedy this.

Curious how my kid will take PARCC from home since our DCPS isn’t offering In-person learning. How will that work?

Anonymous wrote:As someone who has been DEEP IN IT with education research, assessment, and covid, yes, they want you to take the tests. No, there is absolutely no benefit to you or your child. Frankly even the people at the highest levels realize there is very little validity to the results this year. This is a result of the fact that the opt outs are non-random, the tests weren't meant to be done online, the students aren't prepared for this situation, many children don't have the lexical/technical abilities to perform to the best of their ability, many have received non-systematic instruction, etc. I can keep going on. This means that you opting out has little impact overall

As someone involved with education research, I should encourage you to participate. As a reasonable human being who has children who I know and love, no. There's no good reason to subject them to that this year.

As someone involved with scientific research in another field,
I encourage you to reject education research and testing and never let your kid take another PARCC test.
Standardized testing is really really flawed and only parents opting out in large numbers will get it to go away.