Colorado Parent & Teacher Offers Advice & Insights on Opting Out of TCAP
Guest post by Darciann Samples, Colorado Parent and National Board Certified Teacher
The following is a letter from Darciann to all parents and students in Colorado who are interested in learning more about opting out of TCAP.
Hello,
Here is the first update on our second experience with opting out of high-stakes testing in Colorado, a state with a statute requiring that all students participate in the test. Students who attend school at any time during the testing window will be tested.
Last year, we sent an opt-out letter the day before testing, and spent the weekend facing calls and e-mails requesting a response. We kept our ten year old son out of school for three days, were threatened with truancy court, and sent him back to school facing twelve hours of assessments. The make-up exams were administered in increasingly intimidating circumstances but he held firm and refused to test. The tests in the classroom were better, due to a kind teacher who recognized his right to refuse.
This year, my son told me he planned to “fake it” so as not to face the wrath of his unpleasant middle school reading teacher. As a teacher myself, I decided to pay her the professional courtesy of letting her know his intentions. I wanted to give her the opportunity to simply leave my son alone and allow him to sit quietly in the back of the room during the test. His “refusal” would not affect her in the same way a failing score would. I arrived early for my appointment and decided at the last minute to speak with the principal instead. I had printed a copy of the state’s PowerPoint training for TCAP administrationhttp://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/documents/training/2013_TCAP_TestProctorTraining.ppt x , complete with the trainer’s notes of how to manage student behaviors. Basically, teachers may not influence student performance in any way. I know this, my son knows this, and now he knows we know this.
