How to opt out of in-person public school assessments

[IansMom]

Can you tell me what that organization is? I am in Wisconsin and am having the same issue. My children attend a public online school that does in-person testing. We normally do it every year, except last year when they cancelled it. I don't want my kids to do it this year due to the pandemic. We have been home since March 2020 and are being careful and the risk isn't worth it. I was hoping it would get cancelled as I know some school districts in our state are not even back in-person yet.

The website is
https://fairtest.org/

[ang79]

So far nothing official, but I think a lot of states are pushing for this.

It looks like Biden's administration decided yesterday that state tests must happen this year I got an email this morning from our school district with a Google form about whether my children will participate in our tests. Unfortunately, it does not give any details on how the tests will be administered (will all the cyber kids in each grade be in a testing room together, or will the cyber kids be mixed in with the regular in-school classes? another question, what are the expectations for them to do on those testing days - will there be assigned school work for those who opt out or just those hours as a break from lessons?) I'm not sure what to do here. My kids are good test takers but would probably love to skip the tests because they are tests, yet might enjoying seeing their peers. We have all been holed up at home by ourselves all winter. None of us are high risk, but since DH and I work from home and we chose cyber for more stability for the kids this year, so we just do our part of staying safe at home. I feel like we have been able to avoid Covid so far, why risk it now (I feel like this past year of sacrificing seeing people and doing normal activities are kinda down the drain if we catch it at this point). I just don't see how adding the extra pressures of tests on teachers and students this year is actually going to help anything, the kids are not getting a normal year's worth of education and so many have other issues they are dealing with (family job loss, sickness, death, hunger, depression, etc.)

[doberbrat]

I was in the office a couple of weeks ago and the principal mentioned that she was ordering my child's MCAS tests. I asked what happened if people refuse to take the test. She told me that of course, we can have a private discussion about it but that if X % of kids do not take the test, then the school automatically gets kicked to the lowest rating level which then mandates audits etc. She didnt say so but this would also affect property values etc.

So, while a big part of me wants to pull my kids from the tests on principle, I probably wont

[MSWR0319]

It looks like Biden's administration decided yesterday that state tests must happen this year I got an email this morning from our school district with a Google form about whether my children will participate in our tests. Unfortunately, it does not give any details on how the tests will be administered (will all the cyber kids in each grade be in a testing room together, or will the cyber kids be mixed in with the regular in-school classes? another question, what are the expectations for them to do on those testing days - will there be assigned school work for those who opt out or just those hours as a break from lessons?) I'm not sure what to do here. My kids are good test takers but would probably love to skip the tests because they are tests, yet might enjoying seeing their peers. We have all been holed up at home by ourselves all winter. None of us are high risk, but since DH and I work from home and we chose cyber for more stability for the kids this year, so we just do our part of staying safe at home. I feel like we have been able to avoid Covid so far, why risk it now (I feel like this past year of sacrificing seeing people and doing normal activities are kinda down the drain if we catch it at this point). I just don't see how adding the extra pressures of tests on teachers and students this year is actually going to help anything, the kids are not getting a normal year's worth of education and so many have other issues they are dealing with (family job loss, sickness, death, hunger, depression, etc.)

This is where I stand too. We're doing an online public school this year, so mine would be in a classroom with kids from other areas and not anyone they know. I keep telling DH "I don't want to catch it at this point. That would just make me mad that we'd been so cautious only to catch it months away from the vaccine." Neither of mine are at a point where the state tests mean much (2nd and 6th) so I think we'll just opt out if I can figure out how. We got an email a month ago asking how people felt because they know a lot of people had moved online to avoid in person, so they were understanding that this would kind of defeat that purpose. Guess we'll see what email I get after the Biden decision.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It looks like Biden's administration decided yesterday that state tests must happen this year I got an email this morning from our school district with a Google form about whether my children will participate in our tests. Unfortunately, it does not give any details on how the tests will be administered (will all the cyber kids in each grade be in a testing room together, or will the cyber kids be mixed in with the regular in-school classes? another question, what are the expectations for them to do on those testing days - will there be assigned school work for those who opt out or just those hours as a break from lessons?) I'm not sure what to do here. My kids are good test takers but would probably love to skip the tests because they are tests, yet might enjoying seeing their peers. We have all been holed up at home by ourselves all winter. None of us are high risk, but since DH and I work from home and we chose cyber for more stability for the kids this year, so we just do our part of staying safe at home. I feel like we have been able to avoid Covid so far, why risk it now (I feel like this past year of sacrificing seeing people and doing normal activities are kinda down the drain if we catch it at this point). I just don't see how adding the extra pressures of tests on teachers and students this year is actually going to help anything, the kids are not getting a normal year's worth of education and so many have other issues they are dealing with (family job loss, sickness, death, hunger, depression, etc.)

Really? where did you see that? This was just shared on our school parent page:
"On February 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) issued new guidance regarding assessment administration for the 2020-2021 school year.This guidance will allow school entities to delay federally-required assessments until the fall—an option that prioritizes student and public health while safeguarding the comparability and utility of assessment results.' https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-guidance-states-assessing-student-learning-during-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR1BmUxN4uO8gz_7vk_-LAadzNVDX23QRijRvAl8xZysOLvfEz67Eyo0R-U

[ang79]

Really? where did you see that? This was just shared on our school parent page:
"On February 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) issued new guidance regarding assessment administration for the 2020-2021 school year.This guidance will allow school entities to delay federally-required assessments until the fall—an option that prioritizes student and public health while safeguarding the comparability and utility of assessment results.' https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-guidance-states-assessing-student-learning-during-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR1BmUxN4uO8gz_7vk_-LAadzNVDX23QRijRvAl8xZysOLvfEz67Eyo0R-U

Yes, they can delay or shorten them, but they still have to give the them and can't just waive the tests like last year due to Covid. Currently in PA, they have already set the testing dates for April for the PSSA and May for the Keystones. This is one of the articles I saw: https://news.yahoo.com/schools-must-...010418294.html

[ang79]

I was in the office a couple of weeks ago and the principal mentioned that she was ordering my child's MCAS tests. I asked what happened if people refuse to take the test. She told me that of course, we can have a private discussion about it but that if X % of kids do not take the test, then the school automatically gets kicked to the lowest rating level which then mandates audits etc. She didnt say so but this would also affect property values etc.

So, while a big part of me wants to pull my kids from the tests on principle, I probably wont

I was always under the impression that funding is tied to the percentage of kids who take the test in PA to. If a certain percentage of people opt out, the schools get reduced funding. I don't want to hurt our local schools, as I know they may be hurting financially next year after all of the extra cleaning and precautions they have had to use this year. My 8th grader is now telling me she doesn't want to take the tests because she is worried she won't do well on them. She also said her algebra teacher told them if they don't take the Keystone test for Algebra 1, they can't be in the higher level math courses next year. I don't know if that is actually true, or if it will be true this year, but its something I need to find out before I make a final decision.