No Child Left Behind, standardized tests, more: Q&A with school administrators
Parents Can Opt Out United Opt Out National
A higher number of students are opting out of standardized tests, but they're spread out across several school districts in the central Pennsylvania.
No single district is seeing an overwhelming number of requests, but parents, students and educators are increasingly frustrated by federal policies.
No Child Left Behind, signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2002, requires all public schools to conduct standardized tests of students every year. If they don't, they could lose their federal education funding.
Not only must they be proficient on the exams, they must show progress every year. For example, this year's third graders must get higher scores than last year's third graders - regardless if the class is full of students with learning disabilities or language barriers.
As Congress is set to consider an overhaul of No Child Left Behind, we asked local administrators the same four questions:
- Are you seeing an increase in the number of parents choosing to have their students opt out of standardized testing?
- What are you hearing from parents and district residents about standardized tests?
- Does federal education policy need to be revamped?
- Has No Child Left Behind become a burden, or is it a good tool for accountability in schools?
Here are their responses:
Joshua Doll, assistant superintendent, Dallastown Area School District, York County
The district has seen a slight increase in students opting out of standardized tests. While about five of the district's 6,000 students now opt out of the mandated tests annually, many more parents have inquired about opting out.
"They're calling, but not going through the process of opting out," he said. "We're hearing some growing concerns about the amount of time spent assessing students and the time used to prepare for the tests.
"But parents have been very cooperative and understand we're just following state and No Child Left Behind, standardized tests, more: Q&A with school administrators | PennLive.com:
