Posted:
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
State testing is beginning shortly and with that comes Opt-Out. Like in previous years, many we are supporting a parent's choice to Opt-Out. To encourage parents to opt out, BTA and WITA have teamed up to sponsor two days of the Opt Out truck in our districts. Here are some points of information to consider when making the decision to opt your child out of state testing:
- The tests are still way too long. Even though the number of testing days is lower and the number of test questions were slightly reduced, it is still an inappropriate amount of testing for children to sit through.
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Un-timed tests means that some students will sit for up to 6 hours of testing for 2 days. Although the pressure of having to complete sections within a time limit was equally harmful, NYS should have found a better way to administer these tests based on valid research, instead of randomly switching to un-timed tests without any clue on the possible negative consequences of that decision.
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Test are still not 100% aligned to the curriculum taught and some questions are not grade-level appropriate.
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To date, absolutely no NYSUT member has ever vetted any of the questions.
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Tests are still being erroneously used to label schools as ineffective or failing.
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There is still no clear answer from the State about the security of student data.
For more information from NYSUT on opting out, please click here and download their fact sheet.
If you are planning to opt out, but have not sent in your letter yet, please click here to download the letter.