Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) had hoped that by eliminating the time limit and to make the high-stakes tests shorter, more students would take the tests.  However, when it came to Long Island, a hotbed of the "opt out" movement, almost half of the students (45%) refused to take the State English Language Arts test.

On Long Island the demographics continues to show that the mainly White, middle class school districts have the highest "opt out" rates, while the majority poor and minority (Blacks and Latinos) school districts have the lowest "opt out" rates.  Interestingly, the high income and East Asian school districts in Nassau County also has relatively low "opt out" rates.  This is probably because East Asian parents support testing and send their children to after-school academic programs and Saturday school.

The table below shows the top school districts with the highest "opt out" rates.

School District............................"Opt Out"  

Comsewoque................................85.8%
Rocky Point...................................79.4%
Shoreham-Wading River................77.0%
Patchogue-Medford.......................75.9% 
Bayport-Blupoint..........................73.8% 
Sayville.......................................72.8%
East Islip.....................................71.4% 
Greenport....................................71.4%
Lindenhurst..................................69.6%
Eastport-South Manor...................68.8% 
Malverine.....................................68.0% 
Lynnbrook....................................68.0%
Bellmore-Merrick..........................67.1%
Miller Place...................................66.1%
Levittown.....................................63.0%


By contrast, here are the school districts with the lowest "opt out" CONTINUE READING: Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"