Who is refusing Common Core tests for 3rd-8th graders?

[Tinijocaro]

Just taking an informal poll. Are you refusing to allow the state to test your child ad nauseum? My kids are now all beyond grades 3-8 (oops-dd13 will have to refuse next year). I have sent in letters of refusal for my kids for the past 4-5 years.

 

[Southernmiss]

No.My kids take standardized tests without much anxiety. Not worried about them.

I do disagree with how much instructional time is used for the testing, but I've got a 7th grader, 10th grader, high school senior and college student. So I'm just biding my time these next five years. I don't see anything changing in these next few years that would significantly affect my kids one way or the other. They're good students and what they lack at school is made up with family experiences at home.

 

[WorldWacky]

I'm undecided about this year. I refused last year, but I just don't know what to do this year. Poor dd, who is a terrific student, was looked over for a school award at Awards Night because one if the criteria was a 4 on the state test. The year before she got a 4 no problem. I felt bad that she wasn't recognized for her other accomplishments because I had her not take the test.

My kids don't get anxious over taking tests, but I don't like how education is changing to focus on these tests. THAT'S my problem with them. It bothers me that teachers are no longer able to take the time necessary for some of the slower students to "get" a concept. Everyone has to race through the curriculum to get ready for these tests. (Which, incidentally, take time away from the classroom to complete.)

 

[PlutoPony]

While I'm not wild about some of the time lost in testing, high stakes testing in the lower grades is NOTHING compared to what they can face in high school and college. Many of my son's classes at the U are midterm, final, and maybe a project or something like that. So there is a real need for him (and a lot of other college students) to be able to handle testing that covers a lot of material without overly stressing. We pretty much considered early standardized testing as practice for the future, nothing more. I mean, it's not like there are real ramifications if you don't hit it out of the park or anything. By the time they hit high school and college (if they go that route) testing well is a huge help if not a necessity.

 

[OZMom]

While I'm not wild about some of the time lost in testing, high stakes testing in the lower grades is NOTHING compared to what they can face in high school and college. Many of my son's classes at the U are midterm, final, and maybe a project or something like that. So there is a real need for him (and a lot of other college students) to be able to handle testing that covers a lot of material without overly stressing. We pretty much considered early standardized testing as practice for the future, nothing more. I mean, it's not like there are real ramifications if you don't hit it out of the park or anything. By the time they hit high school and college (if they go that route) testing well is a huge help if not a necessity.

This is a really good point. I always tested well and never stressed it. We had testing from young age in our district, so I wonder if that helped?

I didn't even realize we could opt out of the testing to be honest. I have a few years before I will have to think about it, but I don't know that I would.

 

[MSLRAC]

As a teacher now, it would not be wise for me to opted my kids out for numerous reasons. But my kids do well with the testing and I'm not worried at all about their scores or those of my students. We start with our first batch of testing on Tuesday and we all feel good about it.

 

[Southernmiss]

Completely agree Plutopony. I want my kids well prepared for college.

Test taking is a part of it. We are all evaluated in some way when we work. For teachers, it happens to be by testing our kids.

 

[nugov2]

No opt out here either. I don't find any difference between this test and the past test other than the extra sections. My dd is one who actually likes taking these kinds of tests and gets no anxiety from them. I don't like standardized testing much and don't like teacher evaluations being heavily tied to them. I find all of these tests relatively useless vs a test that they take a few times throughout the year to measure growth, but they have been given forever and sadly will most likely continue to be. Luckily our district isn't title 1 and doesn't rely on any funding they'd get from the test. This means they don't teach to the tests or focus much more than about 10 days reviewing for the test every afternoon for a small period of time so no real instruction time is lost on these tests. Though they did do a practice test this year that they normally don't to make sure the kids could operate the program on the computer ok. I don't think opting out will ever change the way things are done in schools as far as testing so if that is the reason for opting out it is probably not going to influence anything, but think if you feel strongly it is bad for your child understand why one would.

I think it is odd how in some states people are up in arms about the testing/CC and here it isn't a blip on anyones radar. It is pretty much business as usual even with the full role out of CC, but like I have said in many of these threads our district did a lot of work making sure our curriculum was something they would want with or without CC staying b/c they are not sure if it actually will stay around long. They spent a lot of time writing and developing a curriculum that worked for our district and slowing rolling it out in the upper grades and did complete roll outs in the younger grades so our students wouldn't be impacted by the changes.

 

[shortbun]

There is a public K-8 in Columbus, ohio where 187 students were opted out by their parents. They have started a group meeting inviting all parents to attend, from any public school. They have collected all the legal information and have the support of the teachers at the school. My son enjoyed taking those tests. I would have allowed him to take them; he's in college now, so not an issue for us but I love that there is a nationwide movement to get legistors to listen to parents and teachers regarding methods of instruction and testing.

 

[mnrose]

I don't get all the test anxiety either. When i was a kid, in the dark ages, we took the Iowa Basics every year. Same/similar content as the tests my kids take now. And, they've got some HUGE tests coming up in high school....so I want them prepared for what it means to take a test. I don't want their first exposure to be when they take the ACT or SAT for real.

And, testing just gets more high stakes. When I was in law school, we had a SINGLE exam per class which determined out grade. That's it. The entire quarter boiled down to one exam per class. And, of course, when you get licensed to practice in your state, that is also a single test. Pass it and you can practice law. Fail and you can't. Black/white, yes/no. That sucker was three 8 hour testing days too. Talk about intense. (BTW, the pass rate was around 45% too). What are all these parents who oppose testing going to do when their kids hit high school and college? Decline to take any tests?

At least the "standardized tests" my kids took in 1-8th grade count for NOTHING grade wise. Nothing whatsoever. The same cannot be said for the ACT or SAT.

 

[smitch425]

My kids are in the middle of tests at school. It's school. There are tests. It prepares them for a future of more tests. I see nothing wrong with them.

 

[gemini2727]

I would really hate to opt out because of the message it sends to my children, that if something is hard, avoid it. And that would not why I would be opting out. Using these test results to evaluate teachers is a really unfair system. Some teachers have a classroom full of students of average or above average abilities and involved parents who will probably do just fine, while another teacher may have a class of kids with parents who don't offer any support in their education, or multiple kids with issues that make classroom teaching that much more difficult. I know teachers personally in each of these situations. There isn't any allowance for the wide range of kids that are tested. It's like one size fits all. How can a teacher's effectiveness be fairly judged that way? But again, I hesitate to opt out because I have no problem personally having my kids tested, even if it's hard for them.

 

[undertheradar]

Can't see any valid reason to opt out. What is the benefit of opting out?

 

[leebee]

These "Smarter Balance" tests are difficult. It's not that the material, per se, might be difficult, but the additional thinking required is going to be difficult for many kids. That sounds bad, but only because it's hard to explain. I have taken the 3rd and 5th grade sample math tests, and I can see how the kids are going to struggle. One of the 5th grade problems has 5 different sections. Section one shows a pictograph of how many cups of lemonade Lily sold per week in July at her lemonade stand. Each cup on the graph represents 3 cups sold. There are some basic questions, such as how many more cups in week two than in week 4 did Lily sell? and how many cups did she sell in July? Then they say that Lily liked selling so much that she continued into August and in week one, she sold twice as many in August as she did in week three in July. It continues on in this manner, so if you remember that one pictograph cup equals three actual cups, you can maybe calculate everything. THEN it asks about prices… THEN it asks you to determine the pictograph for August, but you need to remember to use halves and thirds of pictures to get the actual number of cups properly represented. It's complicated, and if you click on the wrong thing it erases all your answers for that part, and and and. It's very complicated, and I can see how even the best students are going to become weary and struggle. OH… and when I submitted my question as complete, the computer role me I hadn't completed the question; numbers in charts were erased every time I hit the "submit" button!

I haven't attempted the english/reading/writing tests. We have a literacy coach at school, who got her master's from Harvard. She took the 8th grade practice test and said she needed the answer key to determine whether she was actually understanding the questions being asked. I think these tests are going to be an eye-opener, and we are going to have a lot of frustrated kids and parents. I don't like them for a variety of reasons. FORTUNATELY, as with all "new" ways of teaching and testing, they'll disappear in a few years when something "better" comes into vogue. Until then… hold on to your hats, it's gonna be quite the ride!

 

[mom2rtk]

While I'm not wild about some of the time lost in testing, high stakes testing in the lower grades is NOTHING compared to what they can face in high school and college. Many of my son's classes at the U are midterm, final, and maybe a project or something like that. So there is a real need for him (and a lot of other college students) to be able to handle testing that covers a lot of material without overly stressing. We pretty much considered early standardized testing as practice for the future, nothing more. I mean, it's not like there are real ramifications if you don't hit it out of the park or anything. By the time they hit high school and college (if they go that route) testing well is a huge help if not a necessity.

Great point! And I totally agree. Our oldest is a senior in college and has some sort of high stakes test every week right now. He was a very anxious test taker in elementary school. I'm glad now I didn't opt him out, but instead found ways to help him see it through.

Once graduation is over, he'll be setting his sights on the CPA exam...... yet another series of high stakes exams. I'm glad he's experienced at this now.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My youngest is a senior in high school, almost done, 47 school days left!

I do not understand the reasoning behind "opting out" unless you have no intentions of further schooling. Then I could see doing it.

 

[pookybean]

I chose other only because my older dd is in hs now and she cant opt out of any of her testing. i have not yet decided if i will opt out of the testing for my younger dd who is in 1st gr now.

I wish i knew about this option when my older dd was in those lower grades. she has a learning disability but they would not grant her special accommodations for the testing, which means she was taking the same tests as everyone else but was technically not on the same grade level as her peers. these tests caused her so much stress. migraines and vomiting, it was horrible. aside from the test itself there was so much pressure at school about it. parties if there was 100% attendance, pep rally, and how good the school will look when they get high scores. it was just too much for her, and she was not going to do well under all those circumstances. if i had known at that time, we would definitely have opted out.

 

[jcc0621]

Absolutely opting out. My child always scores proficient or advanced, but I think they are a waste of time and money that could be used for other things. The billions of dollars that the testing companies get for these tests is absolutely ridiculous. An employer is not going to care how anyone does on a test. They are going to be more concerned with whether you are a critical thinker, a problem solver not if you can fill in a bubble on a test.

These are not the same types of tests that you take in college. Most tests in college want you think and problem solve. Oh and a lot of colleges are moving away from SAT/ACT requirements.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[donac]

We start testing Monday at the high school I teach at. I have taken several of the math tests. They are different than any thing we have seen before. I think it is going to be interesting when the grades come out. I think many students are going to be frustrated and give up half way through the test. I will be working with some special Ed students with extra time. Good luck to all the kids as they take these tests.