Opting Out of State Testing — Is It an Option?

My daughter stormed in the other day with two STAR test packets to complete. One packet had 96 questions in math and the other had 114 questions in language arts.

Her responses:

• “Don’t the teachers know what I know by now?"
• “This seems to be teaching ‘to the test,’ which everyone claims the schools don’t do.” 
• “I really don’t want to take this test."
• "I feel pressured.
•  I don’t like this feeling.”

My son walked in two days later with his STAR packet of numerous problems and he griped as he had to write numerous annotations of each written passage. 

• “I’m not doing this on the test,” he announced.  “This is ridiculous.”

So, being the educator/parent (at times contradictory in terms), I looked at the work. 

I loved the annotations. I felt in my heart that finally my son had to actually think about the passage. I did have a question: “Why did he have to write annotations for every passage in the packet?"

I’ve heard that Advanced Placement classes in high school do this for every page in the novel students are reading and that students are now losing their love for literature.

I carefully explained the purpose of standardized testing and tried to keep my views quiet, as I’d like my children to create their own feelings (which they most certainly are).

The introduction of No Child Left Behind and the growth of standardized testing has come under fire for being too important to schools, to the detriment of their students—our children.

Curricula now include highlighted standards, making teachers more aware of the importance of some ideas and perhaps causing them to skip some necessary steps of understanding a concept.

So with all of this coverage, our children must be excelling right? Not to the level that was expected.

 Various studies on standarized testing reveal the many pros and cons.

The advantages of testing?

 Practicality:

• Standardized tests are less time-consuming than more complicated assessments that need personal time with every student.
• They are easier to administer.    
• They are easier to grade. Machines do it.
• Very easy to use a computer to track progress and levels of achievement for different groups of students in different subjects.  (Holloway)

Objectivity:

• It is very easy for a standardized test to be objective. it doesn't have emotion or moods or biases. 
• Instigator of change. Standardized tests can be a powerful tool to change classroom and school practices (Gardner). 
• We can use testing to tell us whether we have a problem (Gerstner).  When we identify a problem in a classroom, school or district, we can then take active steps to correct it. In addition, achievement data from tests provide teachers with valuable information to improve classroom and student learning (Gardner).

Accountability:

• Setting high expectations for students and holding all them accountable for the same standards leads to achievement gains.  High-stakes testing forces students to take education seriously.  (Nathan)

Standardization:

• Holding all students accountable for the same material levels the playing field in many diverse school systems. When students from many school districts advance to the next grade, we know that they have all been exposed to the same concepts, despite the demographics of each school.

Note: I’m not sure I agree with most of the above.

The negatives of testing?

• The test does not teach reasoning or critical thinking.
• The test encourages memorization rather than processing information naturally.
• Racial and cultural differences continue to be a disadvantage
• Students feel pressured and may give up, resist or struggle.
• Some teachers and students  do cheat to boost the scores, because of the pressure.
• There is an increase of test preparation materials in class prior to test-taking times, which ends abruptly after test administration. This creates a lack of connection to daily studies and thought processes.
• The pressure felt by teachers results in a drill-and-practice type of instruction rather than critical and analytical thinking. 
• Tests may lead to apathy in students. Many “bubble” in the answers, creating a pretty picture, in order to finish and move on.

My children are mostly conformists.  They don’t want to break the rules but they do mumble and grumble about this inane work that was “dumped on them at the last minute.”

My children have a point with their grumblings. Yet I believe with grumblings, one should have movement.  They’ll do the silly packet work during our “family time” in Tahoe this spring break. (Notice the word “break.”)

However, I will support my daughter ‘s first act of thinking outside the public educational box. I will opt her out of testing, and she has agreed to sit in a detention classroom (she’s never had a detention in her nine years of schooling) to read or write a story instead of doing a standardized test. 

Yes, Parents Can Opt Their Children Out!  

This decision was made after I mentioned that testing is a part of high school and of college, so she may need the practice. My daughter laughed and said, “I’ve had years of needless practice.” Touche! Does she need to be stressed for the sake of the junior high’s reputation? No.

My son has chosen to take the STAR test. He doesn’t want to be singled out and go to the detention room. Good boy (sarcasm).  No challenge here.

I know both of my children’s abilities.  I know they will be successful human beings, with or without the STAR test. I applaud the parents who support their children. But opting out is an option that more parents are now willing to take.