Law Allows For Opt Outs Of Standardized Tests
If school districts don’t meet 95 percent participation rates, they could stand to lose federal money
SALEM — The landscape of statewide assessments — currently Smarter Balanced Assessments — is in question after Gov. Kate Brown signed a law allowing parents to more easily opt children out.
#The law is not without controversy, as roughly $140 million in federal funding statewide is dependent on at least 95 percent of students participating in the standardized tests.
#Last year, only about 10 students were excused from the tests in Central School District, said Buzz Brazeau, superintendent.
#Whether or not the new law will affect participation rates next year is difficult to say.
#“It’s hard for me to tell,” he said. “I would hope (we don’t get more opting out), but I think it depends on how well people are informed.”
#For some, including Central Education Association president and CHS English teacher Ben Gorman, the new law is a win for educators and parents.
#“My guess is that, when parents realize that the test data isn’t actually used to help their individual student, many will decide any activity in which their child learns something is preferable to an unnecessary test,” Gorman said.
#Kimber Townsend is a mother of two Central students, one was a junior last year and the other attended Talmadge Middle School. She opted both of her children out of Smarter Balanced last year, calling it a family decision.
#A couple factors contributed to that decision.
#“I work in the College of Education at Western Oregon University,” she said. “I hear conversations about standardized testing from faculty, the dean and administration. How do we feel about it, how will this affect our students (at WOU). Standardized testing goes against every best practice that we teach our student teachers.”
#Standardized tests are developed by people who make tests, not by educators, Townsend said.
#“With more and more blended classrooms, all learning levels and skill levels in the same room, standardized testing doesn’t work,” she said. “They’re not standardized students.”
#Perhaps a bigger motive behind opting out her students was because of the missed classroom time.
#“When my student says to me, these are challenging classes, what happens if I miss four days — they actually pull them (students) out and coach them how to pass,” Townsend said. “Four days of testing, plus prep time.”
#Brazeau said Smarter Balanced took roughly 11,500 hours of testing time last year.
#Gorman said the time spent testing gets in the way of teaching.
#“We have to give up significant instructional time to testing every year,” he said. “Combine that with one of the shortest school years in the country, and Oregon’s kids get almost a full year less instruction (over the course of 12 years) than students from most states.”
#Michelle Johnstone, Dallas School District’s new superintendent, said she agrees that students spend too much time taking state assessments.
#“The thing that worries me is how much time it takes,” she said, adding it’s counterintuitive to requirements schools increase time students spend in the classroom.
#That’s especially true when the results aren’t provided to the districts in a timely manner, she said.
That being said, she understands the need for testing in some form to make sure teachers and districts are doing their job educating children.
#“Kids have to be measured somehow,” she said. “Now, do we have to do it excessively? No.”
#Previous to Dallas, Johnstone was a superintendent in Colorado, where the Legislature also allowed for more opt outs.
#The federal government put the state on notice that it could lose funding if too many students weren’t tested.
#She’s worried the same thing will happen in Oregon.
#“It makes me a little nervous to say parents can opt out for any reason,” she said, adding:
#“It puts districts in a really bad spot.”
#The threat of losing funding should enough parents in Oregon opt out of the testing is real, but it may not Law allows for opt outs of standardized tests | Polk County Itemizer-Observer: