A MONTH OF OPTING OUT OF STANDARDIZED TESTS
I get a lot of questions about education from friends, family, friends of family, family of friends and random people on the interwebs. One of the most difficult questions I get is “Why did you choose to opt your kids out of standardized tests?”. This question isn’t difficult because I don’t know the answer. It’s difficult because they are
looking for the short version of a very complex decision. Last year I wrote about our decision to opt out of the state test in Arkansas. This year is a bit different. Partly because our reasons have evolved and partly because standardized testing will take an entire MONTH in 2015. So I decided that I would tackle one reason per day during the month-long testing window of March 9 – April 10. Including spring break, that’s 20 school days of testing. I’ll post each reason separately and use this post as the master list. So here you have it, the Endacott Family Top 20 Reasons we are opting out of PARCC in 2015:Reason 1: We trust teachers
Standardized tests have become the most important measure of educational quality in recent years. As some of my later posts will explain, this is ridiculous. You might have heard of Value Added Measurement (VAM), which is how test scores are used to determine teacher quality. VAM requires a complicated statistical model that can be horribly erroneous when calculated by those without the right expertise. Not only is VAM ripe for error, but the American Statistical Association has highlighted research that shows teachers account for only 1%-14% of the variance in student test scores. Very recent research has also demonstrated that there is no association between VAM test score data and other composite measures of effective teaching. In other words VAM is a problematic way to measure teacher quality that is also inconsistent with what we already know about good teaching. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Standardized tests have become the most important measure of educational quality in recent years. As some of my later posts will explain, this is ridiculous. You might have heard of Value Added Measurement (VAM), which is how test scores are used to determine teacher quality. VAM requires a complicated statistical model that can be horribly erroneous when calculated by those without the right expertise. Not only is VAM ripe for error, but the American Statistical Association has highlighted research that shows teachers account for only 1%-14% of the variance in student test scores. Very recent research has also demonstrated that there is no association between VAM test score data and other composite measures of effective teaching. In other words VAM is a problematic way to measure teacher quality that is also inconsistent with what we already know about good teaching. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
According to the most recent Phi Delta Kappa survey on public education, 72% of Americans have trust and confidence in their kids’ teachers. You can count us among their numbers. Nobody knows what our children are capable of more than the teachers that see them every day. 58% of Americans also oppose the use of standardized tests to evaluate teachers. We are definitely among them as well, and as long as test scores are being used in this fashion, I hope they join us in opting out.
Reason 2: False Premises
If you listen to politicians and pundits (bad idea) then you’d think A Month of Opting Out of Standardized Tests | EduSanity:
Parents Can Opt Out - United Opt Out National
