I am middle class, my kids test well, and I opt out
I am a middle class parent, my kids test well, and I opt out.
A few days ago, I published a blog post called “I am pro-child, and I opt out.” It detailed some of the reasons why I believe opting out of high stakes standardized tests is the right decision. In response, I have received several hesitant, interested-but-not sure yet questions from people who I consider to be my peers: they are middle class parents whose children attend stable, strong public schools.
These parents know and support their children’s teachers, and they do not want to do anything to make teachers’ jobs harder. They feel welcome at their children’s schools, and often volunteer there. They have children who do well on such high stakes tests as the MCAs (which are being given now in classrooms across Minnesota) and the MAP test (which may be given up to three times a year, from kindergarten on up). They are good people with good values, and they support their public schools.
The fact that they are now coming to me with questions is thrilling. It means cracks are forming in the iron curtain of standardized testing. It means a dialogue, a discussion, a debate is taking shape, where there has mostly been only silence and complicit acceptance of the perceived necessity of standardized testing. Those of us whose children are least likely to be deeply affected by these tests are now starting to see that they may not be good for children, and that we who are the most empowered and powerful parents in the public school system have an obligation to speak up and raise questions about the pre-ordained dominance of the test-based accountability craze defining our schools.
Let me take on a few of their questions here, along with some answers I have come up with:
- Kids need to learn how to take tests, don’t they? I don’t know, do they? Why? In our adult lives, do we really take tests? Do we take tests that we cannot see beforehand? Do we take tests that may or may not relate to our lives or what we are currently doing for work? Sure, lots of adults do take tests from time to time, and they may be high stakes tests, such as for a driver’s license, or a job-related skill. Does year after year of high stakes testing, as a child, help prepare one for such infrequent tests, which are often accompanied by study materials, and are demonstrably relevant to one’s quality of life? What do you think? But, parents say, what about the SAT and the ACT test? My oldest child is not there yet, but parents of older students have told me that these tests are taken more than once by most students, and that parents with means often pay a lot for test prep classes in preparation for the tests. So, again, how would year after year of testing, from kindergarten on up, prepare a child for the day when they take the ACT or SAT? What is the connection? If anything, I worry that all of the testing we put our kids through will mean they arrive in high school pretty burned out on testing. (Also, I am middle class, my kids test well, and I opt out | Twin Cities Daily Planet: