Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

My district had a meeting all about the tests and explaining them. I am a teacher and before going to the meeting I knew my kids would take the tests and after the meeting I was more informed about the tests and they will still take them.
There are many facebook pages all about opting out that I was once a part of but after reading both sides my feelings fell on the side of opting in and taking the tests.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

I am letting my DD decide. I have not looked into any information for why I should or should not.

But I will say if its used for teacher assessments I dont think that's fair at all.

At one point in school I purposely failed tests because I didnt like the teacher (stupid I know ) I am sure there are kids who just dont want to try and a teacher shouldnt be determined if they are good by test scores!

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

I don't see any reason to opt out.

That being said, I think it is an interesting phenomena to see which districts opt out/opt in. The wealthier districts that tend to rank high have VERY LOW opt out. The poorer districts are also VERY LOW. The more middle class districts have VERY HIGH opt out rates. I just find this to be very interesting. I have my own theories, but when you start looking at the stats they can be very telling.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

I opt out. My daughter is smart, takes all kinds of other tests. But not these Mickey Mouse ones that mean nothing, and aren't even based on what they learn most of the time. On Long Island these tests don't count. In NYC I'm told they DO count, so that's probably why there is a difference. I've been told they look at them to get into various middle and high schools.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Do you opt your kids out of tests?

My daughter was part of the very first opt out class. We opted out every year of her education. Now a sophomore in college on her way to becoming a Physician Assistant, it did not effect her one bit. She was accepted into all 11 schools she applied to.

This is a great site for explaining the "why's" of opting out.

NYSAPE

Message edited 3/9/2020 4:04:22 PM.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

yes

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Yes, I opted my DD out of statewide testing. It was actually encouraged by the district and the elementary schools had a pretty high opt-out rate.

Do you opt your kids out of tests?

I do not believe in opting out that said if you opt out this year you get a level 1.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Nope, we don't opt out. I never got to opt out. To me, tests are part of school. Just my beliefs.

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

Re: Do you opt your kids out of tests?

My kids always took the tests. If you search my name you will see I saw value in the tests. I don’t think they are unfair. I think most kids can do decent and kids that are prepped outside of school can ace or come close to acing them. They are tests you can prep for and many do. I do think some of the skills they test are important so I think there is even value in the teachers prepping for them in school although in my district they don’t do much of this anymore.

That said - I don’t have my kids take them anymore. For what it’s worth here is “my” Why: (excuse all the typos I’m writing this on my phone)

1. In the time since my kids started taking these tests the number of tests they have to take has skyrocketed to a level that I find unacceptable. There is more and more testing every year and less and less teaching. How many tests do they need? 4th graders in my district are taking the NWEA 6 times a year. They have two days in the fall, two in the winter, two in the spring. The spring is the worst. They have two days of nwea, two days of Ela State test, two days Of math state test, two days of science state test, two day math final, one day cognitive abilities testing. This is on top of regular class room tests. So from end March- beginning of June these kids are taking tests almost every other week for a grand total of 11 days of testing outside of the classroom tests. This is unacceptable for me for a 9 year old.

2. The state test scores won’t help my kids in any way will only serve to potentially hurt them. The scores come back too late for them to be used for classroom instruction or for individualised instruction for my child. Have any of you actually seen your child’s entire test? I know for a fact that the classroom teachers in my school didn’t even look at the tests for the year prior so they don’t even know or care to know if they have any teaching weakness they need to fix. My kids classroom teacher for this year won’t even likely look at their individual tests and won’t even get their score until they are already with a new teacher ! If they don’t perform up to expectations you will never see the test and won’t know why. No one will care or reach out to you to review weakness unless it qualifies your child for extra help. I know that is the case from friends in the district whose high performing kids got 2s and they were left to wonder why with no answer. No one reached out to them and their classroom teacher from that year admitted they never even looked at or were given the test to see what went wrong. My friend was told “don’t worry about it - it’s not important” um, ok, then why did her child have to take this two day test?

3. These scores are part of your child’s permanent transcript. If your child does not take them - that fact cannot be used against them in any way as per nys law. However, if they do take them - the scores can and will be used. In some areas they use the scores for admittance to specialised and prestigious high schools. Most private schools will consider them for admission and all schools you apply to will see them. Thus, there are kids in the state that are very heavily prepping for these exams outside of school and will do very well. They will ace the test. So you may think getting a 4 is good but it’s really not that helpful unless it’s a very high 4 in terms of school admittance and admittance into certain school programs. Yet, a poor score may hurt them. Why would I want my child who is barely prepared in the classroom to have these scores on their permanent record to potentially mitigate their total picture when it can’t help them in any important way and is no true reflection on their relative ability? Same applies to school gifted, enrichment and acceleration programs that use the scores- it can’t be used against your child if they don’t take them but if the do take them the score will be used.

4. Based on EVERYTHING else my child does during the school year if their teachers don’t know where they are performing in these subjects without these tests - there is a big problem.

5. One of my children is taking two regents in the subject area of the State test. Makes no sense to take both. And last year these kids were expected to take a state math test for a grade that didn’t even line up with the grade math they were taking. Again makes no sense

I could go on and on but those are my main reasons why my kids will not take the state tests this year.

Do you opt your kids out of tests?

I opted out of all state testing for all 3 of my kids - they are high school age now so it doesn't apply anymore to us. I just felt it was unnecessary when it didn't count toward anything for them.