Post by Captain Serious on Mar 4, 2015 17:53:55 GMT -5
I think we will opt M out. Our school had said they will let students have independent reading time and the district said it won't impose any attendance sanctions against children who opt out.
M has not been offered any accommodations for the test, despite his IEP. They only had one practice day, and simply navigating through the test is challenging. The kids have not been given any typing instruction, and he's still picking his way across the keyboard, in addition to struggling with the material.
Add all that to the fact that we will be moving to a state that doesn't use PARCC before the results come back, and it all just seems a tortuous exercise in futility.
We talked about opting SS out of SBAC and decided he will take it, but if he was a struggling student or had an iep, we would opt out for sure.
Two members of our school board have made a motion to suspend SBAC testing in the district. It has to go through the voting process so it may not work.
I don't have kids, but I'm a teacher, and I'm in charge of proctoring the English section of it for two days next week. I'd like to opt out of doing that lol.
I don't have kids, but I'm a teacher, and I'm in charge of proctoring the English section of it for two days next week. I'd like to opt out of doing that lol.
I don't have kids, but I'm a teacher, and I'm in charge of proctoring the English section of it for two days next week. I'd like to opt out of doing that lol.
I don't have kids, but I'm a teacher, and I'm in charge of proctoring the English section of it for two days next week. I'd like to opt out of doing that lol.
I bet that's awfully boring.
Yeah, I am dreading it. I have training on it tomorrow, so I don't know exactly what I will be responsible for besides helping students who have computer issues, etc. And we are only testing our juniors, yet I have 4 classes of seniors, so I have to miss the rest of my classes that day. Planning for a sub sucks.
We talked about opting SS out of SBAC and decided he will take it, but if he was a struggling student or had an iep, we would opt out for sure.
Two members of our school board have made a motion to suspend SBAC testing in the district. It has to go through the voting process so it may not work.
The state we are moving to all use the SBAC. Is it as flawed as the PARCC? I don't know much about it, but did like that it can be administered at the child's speed, rather than all at once for everyone.
Yeah, I am dreading it. I have training on it tomorrow, so I don't know exactly what I will be responsible for besides helping students who have computer issues, etc. And we are only testing our juniors, yet I have 4 classes of seniors, so I have to miss the rest of my classes that day. Planning for a sub sucks.
planning for subs is MORE work than actually being there. Id rather work than plan for subs
also, i do not have children of my own, but am a sped teacher. One of my students is taking it. I wish his mom opted him out of it, he really has only been set up for ......failure
I have fought as much as I could, i am exhausted. This poor kid is having so much anxiety JUST with the change of routine and schedule for him, NOT to mention the test
Post by Captain Serious on Mar 4, 2015 19:14:45 GMT -5
Thank you all for sharing. The responses in this post are really making me feel better about our choice. I didn't want to appear neglectful or as if we were not challenging him or just trying to take the easy/lazy way out.
Post by EmilieMadison on Mar 4, 2015 19:47:46 GMT -5
I am an elementary school assessment coordinator, which means I set up and proctor all of the standardized testing at my school. I'm seriously considering opting my kids out (they attend the school at which I work). There are a few other teachers at my school with kids in our school who are thinking of opting out as well. Standardized testing is, IMO, a huge stress to kids, teachers and parents, and the process and results offer almost zero real benefits. There is a bit of rumbling from teachers and parents at our school about an entire school-wide opt out. Which would be great, but I'd also be out of a job LOL
I dont remember the name of Florida's testing but its all over the news that a letter was sent home to parents that if they opt out of testing, their kid may be held back or put in remedial classes.
Ugh.
What?! Ridiculous. We have a high school here that is not going to give their juniors the test this year.
How seriously are you considering homeschooling X? Lol.
What?! Ridiculous. We have a high school here that is not going to give their juniors the test this year.
How seriously are you considering homeschooling X? Lol.
lol. With this testing bullshit, the test has glitches and doesnt even WORK but they're forcing down the throats of kids, i just might have to homeschool. Which, ugh. Fucking politicians fucking up education. Ugh ugh ugh.
I don't blame you. It's the direction we're heading, actually.
I dont remember the name of Florida's testing but its all over the news that a letter was sent home to parents that if they opt out of testing, their kid may be held back or put in remedial classes.
Ugh.
FSA (Florida Standards Assessment)
So over the bs. Parents are always asking what the repercussions of the test will be, and I have to shrug my shoulders like an idiot because NO ONE KNOWS.
Nj law states they can't use this year for placement decisions if I remember correctly. It came out last week. We are opting M out. He did one day of testing and now refuses to go to school. Last week we had to put a new behavior plan in to help him get to school. He's a basket case and in bed crying about it. He did the same last night.
So over the bs. Parents are always asking what the repercussions of the test will be, and I have to shrug my shoulders like an idiot because NO ONE KNOWS.
AH Yes. Fsa. Short for fucking stupid assholes (Makers of the test that is)
I was watching the news and nobody on earth has any clue as to what to do about all this, the glitches, the anticipated failure of nearly every school. Theyre trying to get the grades to not count against the school.
Hows about we just scrap the whole fucking thing
We didn't even know what the test would be until relatively recently (Summer 2014) since we were originally doing PARCC but backed out for political reasons. The writing test went royally wrong from what I heard (luckily on mat leave for that cluster fuck), but I'm sure those scores will accurately reflect student achievement. :: explodes::
I don't have kids, but I'm a teacher, and I'm in charge of proctoring the English section of it for two days next week. I'd like to opt out of doing that lol.
My district had a crazy high opt -out rate, so I got to proctor an opt out room instead and do prep work. Tomorrow I have to do real proctoring and I already want to gouge my eyes out.
Also, if x were slated to take this test id opt out if they dared put him in remedial classes or held him back as punishment, id yank him out of school so fast, heads would spin.
Then I'd call john morgan and see if we can have some sort of class action suit to stop this ridiculous shit. Holding kids back as pure punishment? Fuck you. No. I wouldn't want money at all, just STOP THIS FUCKING STUPIDNESS.
All I can think now is, "FOR THE PEOPLE, MOTHER FUCKERS."
Post by cherryvalance on Mar 4, 2015 20:24:13 GMT -5
I can say, though, that since the state pussed out and told people the tests wouldn't count for three years, most of our kids are just clicking through answers and writing a sentence for the essay, if that. Totally worth the two hours of lost instructional time for each day this week, plus round two.
*I say pussed out because instead of dropping out or halting implementation, forcing kids to take it for no reason was their compromise.
We didn't even know what the test would be until relatively recently (Summer 2014) since we were originally doing PARCC but backed out for political reasons. The writing test went royally wrong from what I heard (luckily on mat leave for that cluster fuck), but I'm sure those scores will accurately reflect student achievement. :: explodes::
The writing test we gave in the fall was full of glitches. I think something like 90% of 9-12th graders , across 19 schools, completely failed/FBB. The others were in the below basic range. Teachers knew it was poorly written, complained in the weeks leading up to the exam, but still had to give the assessments, and attend a full day PD to analyze what went wrong. Countless hours wasted!
I think we might next year b/c it has been a total shit show for DD1 (8). The computer she was supposed to use on Monday for the first part broke. The teacher had her sit in front of a broken computer for an hour while they tried to fix it. Now she has taken 2 days, but they can't figure out how to get her to make up the one she missed for the broken computer. Her OCD/anxiety is through the roof. I don't know what they will do about the rest of the week if there are snow days. Hopefully skip it and get on with actual learning.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Mar 4, 2015 20:27:51 GMT -5
My students don't have a prayer for most of these standardized tests. Many of them take them year and year just to keep failing them, and then they don't graduate. Our graduation rates are like 55%.
In the news thingie i watched, they said that 32% of ny children (i believe our test is based on that? They kept giving NY as a direct example...i think it was NY.) passed the test.
So it obviously correctly identifies areas of knowledge and deficiency and 76% of NY students are not knowledgeable in their studies. Yeaaahhhhhhhh.
Which is awesome if you're trying to prove that all public schools and teachers suck, you know? It's a mess all around, but I'm especially not okay with my students being used as guinea pigs and lab rats to coat someone's pockets.
My students don't have a prayer for most of these standardized tests. Many of them take them year and year just to keep failing them, and then they don't graduate. Our graduation rates are like 55%.
This is why I'm so glad we're doing away with the proficiency exams. This graduating class is the last group that has to pass in order to graduate.
I don't know what the district is going to do now, but there has been talk that the teachers will administer an end of year exam that tests what students learned that year. So, basically a final exam. Which is such a "DUH" thing that I don't get why we haven't been doing this for years.
Interesting discussion. I always loved test days, but this was 40 years ago.
I asked my son and he says he feels the same way : you get out of class, there's no homework, and the tests don't go on your report card.
I'm sad that so many kids are feeling such pressure and anxiety over these tests. If my kid had serious test anxiety or otherwise couldn't cope well with test days, I would probably opt out, too.
Post by Captain Serious on Mar 4, 2015 20:48:14 GMT -5
I appreciate all the responses. Now we just have to make sure M doesn't feel like he isn't as capable as his friends who do take it, because that is his concern.
I just want him to come out of this week feeling as good as when he went in.
So over the bs. Parents are always asking what the repercussions of the test will be, and I have to shrug my shoulders like an idiot because NO ONE KNOWS.
AH Yes. Fsa. Short for fucking stupid assholes (Makers of the test that is)
I was watching the news and nobody on earth has any clue as to what to do about all this, the glitches, the anticipated failure of nearly every school. Theyre trying to get the grades to not count against the school.
Hows about we just scrap the whole fucking thing
My high schooler is taking hers tomorrow and my son has his next week. Our county suspended the computerized tests for three days while the glitches were fixed.
I read an article that said the FSA is the same test that another state used and 6/10 kids failed it.
My high schooler gets test anxiety during standardized testing and I hate that she feels so pressured. She did bad on an FCAT test and is now in a remedial reading class even though she had As all year in English and is currently doing really well in her honors English class. I hate that these tests hold so much weight.
My students don't have a prayer for most of these standardized tests. Many of them take them year and year just to keep failing them, and then they don't graduate. Our graduation rates are like 55%.
This is why I'm so glad we're doing away with the proficiency exams. This graduating class is the last group that has to pass in order to graduate.
I don't know what the district is going to do now, but there has been talk that the teachers will administer an end of year exam that tests what students learned that year. So, basically a final exam. Which is such a "DUH" thing that I don't get why we haven't been doing this for years.
These final exams are the ones that are the standardized tests here in NYC at the high school level. And our students just can't pass them, because they lack the fundamental skills to do well in a regular classroom setting.