What is Florida’s education chief talking about?
Pam Stewart, the education commissioner of Florida, said something recently that struck a bad note with a number of people in the state about what are known as “opt outs,” students who refuse to take state-mandated standardized tests used for “accountability” purposes.
With the 2016 testing just starting, the Tampa Bay Times reported it this way:
The arrival of the testing season has brought a renewed debate over exactly how far school districts must go to accommodatechildren and parents who don’t want to take the tests.In a conference call with superintendents, commissioner Pam Stewart made clear the message she wants the districts to promote. Testing is required, she said, just like vaccinations. Like it, or leave. From her call notes, distributed to all districts:“We all know there have been questions about opt out and that there were situations where this occurred last year. Section 1008.22, F.S., regarding statewide, standardized assessments, states clearly that participation is mandatory for all districts and all students attending public schools. My belief is that students who do not want to test should not be sitting in public schools, as it is mandatory and required for students seeking a standard high school diploma. Statewide, standardized assessments are part of [the] requirement to attend school, like immunization records. That is our message and what we send to you to be shared with your staff.”
As you might imagine, some folks in Florida were not amused. There is a strong parent activist movement in Florida whose members speak out publicly against test-based school reform and who have opted their children out of the tests in recent years. Furthermore, educators and school administrators in the state have increasingly been speaking out against the state’s test-based accountability system.
The Florida Association of District School Superintendents issued a statement in September saying that superintendents have “lost confidence” in that system and they called for a suspension of the accountability system and a full review. The assessments, which were given to Florida students for the first What is Florida’s education chief talking about? - The Washington Post: