Eleven Reasons to Refuse Standardized Testing for Your Children
By: Jacky Boyd
Originally posted on http://crunchymoms.com/eleven-reasons-refuse-standardized-testing-children/
This month, schools across America administer the two Common Core State Standards aligned standardized exams: Partnership of Assessment for Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) developed by Pearson and Smarter Balanced.
My state, Maine, belongs to the Smarter Balanced consortium. And while my city is small compared to education battlegrounds New York City or Chicago, we have our own share of standardized testing controversy. Schools fail to inform (or try to deny) parents’ right to chose if their children participate in the exam. Misinformation is rampant. Officials remain mute as often as possible, and when they speak on the subject, they only praise the data the test will generate and remind us all of the US DOE’s threat to control a portion of Title I funding if too many students fail to participate.
But the fact remains that parents do have the legal right to refuse testing, or “opt out.” Here are eleven reasons why you should.
1. Standardized tests penalize students who do not master material on an arbitrary date. Testing companies and school administrators set the test dates. A child needing more time to master a concept isn’t allowed that opportunity with a fixed test date. Thus, the data doesn’t reflect if the child masters the content five weeks, five days, or five minutes after the exam because it records only one arbitrary point in time. Also, the system harms those who master material quickly. Test makers give all students growth targets; high achievers already well above grade level must make expected progress or their above average score counts as a failure. To paraphrase Douglas Reeves, these tests are autopsies when we should use assessments as physicals.
2. Standardized tests are developmentally inappropriate for young students. If you’d like to see the tests in action: go here for a practice PARCC exam and here for a practice Smarter Balanced exam. While you’re there, consider if a third grader has the computer skills to simultaneously scroll two screens, highlight, drag and drop, and type as the test requires. Many education experts argue the actual content of the test is developmentally inappropriate, too. The standards (from Common Core), the questions, and even some of the reading passages are years too advanced in some cases. And while this post focuses on Smarter Balanced and PARCC which aren’t administered until third grade, many schools give other standardized tests starting in kindergarten.
3. Preparing for and administering standardized tests uses hours of instructional time. Both the Smarter Balanced exam and PARCC use complex computer interfaces. Test takers need practice learning how to navigate the test screens in preparation for the actual test. Those experiences teach children nothing except how to take one test, and thus are wasted instructional time. The exams themselves take hours to complete. The timed PARCC takes 9-12 hours depending on grade level while Smarter Balanced estimates 7-8.5, but allows students as long as necessary to finish.
4. Standardized tests narrow curriculum. What’s on the test is what’s taught. PARCC and Smarter Balanced only evaluate math and literacy, and thus science, social studies, and the arts are lost to spend maximum instruction time on the tested material. There is no time for creativity, collaboration, and curiosity. To increase time for improving test scores, some schools cut recess, and schools even Badass Teachers Association:
