The new school year has began and the preparation for the end of year standardized testing begins on day one at most schools. As a parent of a 7th grader I find myself already thinking about whether or not to opt out my child from the state standardized testing for this school year.
I have heard the arguments for and against my daughter taking the tests at the end of the year but my question is what is the penalty for her not taking it? I just needed to know so I thought I would share my findings with others that might also be wondering!
When looking for these answers I found that that all states must have a standardized testing platform in place to track student achievement. Each district must have a 95% Opt in, but if they do not meet that 95% the federal government can not take action against them like in the past. That being said, the state and district are still responsible for ensuring each student is ready for college and to join the workforce when they graduate.
Penalties for Districts:
A district must meet the 95% participation rate. If they do not a few things could happen to the district as a whole. If the district was in good standing academically in the past they may be required to develop a “Improvement Plan” on how they will raise participation in the future. If the district has been considered a “Focus” or “Priority” school district the penalty could be much worse.
State aid can’t be affected by lack of participation in standardized testing but the district can be penalized in other ways if they are a Focus or Priority school district. Below are a few ways these districts are affected
They can be placed on Registration Review by the Commissioner of Education which would mean more state oversight for the district.
Districts can regulate to what they call “set-aside rules” when it comes to Title 1 funding. This means that 5-15 % of their Title 1 funding could be re-allocated elsewhere!
NOTE: Schools that maintain the 95% rate of Participation are consider “Reward” Schools.
Penalties for Students:
Depending on the state there is not much impact on the student themselves. In the past the standardized test scores could be used to determine remediation or placement, but recently this has been done away with for the most part in most states.
The guidelines for what to do with the students that have opted out states that the school does not need to provide alternative location or activities for students that have been opted out of the standardized testing. Some districts will allow the students to read, other use the “Sit and Stare” model.
Penalties for Teachers:
Opting your child out can throw off the teacher’s “Growth Score” at least in New York. New York is still reporting the student data but has stated they are only using it for informational purposes. Both high achieving and low achieving students can affect the growth score of their teacher. If a high performing student doesn’t do as well as their peers on the assessment ,then they can lower their teacher’s growth score. In contrast if a low performing student does better than their peers they will actually raise the teacher’s Growth Score! This will vary from state to state throughout the country.
I found that teachers who speak out publically against the state standardized testing can potentially be brought up on charges of insubordination. Their rights to free speech are not protected if they are speaking as employee of the school district. The rules are different if they are speaking as a parent or concerned citizen; for example writing a letter to the editor. This would not subject them to disciplinary action.
Opting out of the standardized testing is a big decision on the part of the parent. There are many different implications that can affect not just your child but your child’s teacher and school district as a whole.
Reference:- http://www.nysut.org/~/media/files/nysut/resources/2016/factsheet_optout.pdf?la=en
