Resistance to Testing

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BRIC ARCHIVE
Steve Braden for Education Week
Assessment Opinion The Opt-Out Movement Is Gaining Momentum
The building opt-out movement signals a need for K-12 policymakers to improve family engagement, argue Michael P. Evans and Andrew Saultz.
Michael P. Evans & Andrew Saultz, June 9, 2015
3 min read
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Jonathan Bouw for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion The Power of Parents Is on Display in Opt-Outs
Resistance to mandated tests, especially from parents of children with special needs, is reaching a breaking point in many districts, writes Rebecca Page Johnson.
Rebecca Page Johnson, June 9, 2015
4 min read
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Bob Dahm for Education Week
Federal Opinion When Students Opt Out, What Are the Policy Implications?
The opt-out movement has an impact on K-12 accountability, but it's complicated, write researchers Jessica K. Beaver and Lucas Westmaas.
Jessica K. Beaver & Lucas Westmaas, June 9, 2015
4 min read
Fred and Catherine Hamel pose with their daughter, Teddi, who has completed 12 years of public schooling. She has earned an undergraduate degree in history and is now an outdoor educator with the international nonprofit organization Outward Bound.
Fred and Catherine Hamel pose with their daughter, Teddi, who has completed 12 years of public schooling. She has earned an undergraduate degree in history and is now an outdoor educator with the international nonprofit organization Outward Bound.
Hamel Family Photo
Assessment Opinion Q&A: An Early Opt-Out Talks About School Without Tests
Twelve years after opting their children out of testing, Fred and Catherine Hamel interview their daughter on her experience.
Fred L. Hamel & Catherine Ross Hamel, June 9, 2015
5 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Nip Rogers for Education Week
Assessment Opinion Test-Taking 'Compliance' Does Not Ensure Equity
Parents have a civil right to opt out of testing when children's K-12 needs go unmet, write Judith Browne Dianis, John H. Jackson, and Pedro Noguera.
Judith Browne Dianis, John H. Jackson & Pedro A. Noguera, June 9, 2015
3 min read
Assessment Opinion How Does the Opt-Out Movement Intend to Close Achievement Gaps?
The opt-out movement is right to call for a richer, more authentic learning experience. It's wrong to stay silent on the educational inequality that makes testing necessary, Cristina Duncan Evans say.
Cristina Duncan Evans, June 4, 2015
3 min read
Assessment Opinion Teachers Have No Voice or Choice in Testing, So Why Would They Support It?
Public school educators have knowledge and expertise that should be welcomed into policy debates, says Deb McCarthy, and that means the teaching profession benefits from the opt-out movement.
Deb McCarthy, May 21, 2015
3 min read
Assessment Opinion What the Opt-Out Movement Teaches Students
There is a frightening new sentiment in the education world these days that it is OK for students to pick and choose what they participate in, Marika Heughins argues.
Marika Heughins, May 21, 2015
3 min read
Assessment Opinion Standardized Testing Has Created an Unfair Burden on Public Schools
If the opt-out movement can shed light and focus attention on the injustices public schools face, Bill Ivey says, then he is 100 percent in support of it.
Bill Ivey, May 20, 2015
4 min read
Assessment Opinion Why the Opt-Out Movement Won't Fix Testing
Opting out is a passive response that hopes to incite change through causing inconvenience, rather than driving meaningful reform, Ken Mattingly writes.
Ken Mattingly, May 20, 2015
3 min read
Assessment Opinion Q&A With Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson shares his thoughts on student engagement and testing, the future of teacher education programs, and why vocational education matters.
May 19, 2015
10 min read
Meredith Barber, a Penn Valley, Penn., psychologist, has decided that her 10-year-old daughter Gabrielle Schwager will not be taking the state assessments this year.
Meredith Barber, a Penn Valley, Penn., psychologist, has decided that her 10-year-old daughter Gabrielle Schwager will not be taking the state assessments this year.
Matt Slocum/AP
Assessment 'Opt-Out' Push Gains Traction Amid Common-Core Testing
Activists urging parents to opt their children out of tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards hope to build on momentum in states like New York.
Andrew Ujifusa, May 5, 2015
6 min read
Teaching Profession Opinion The Network for Public Education. Repeat: Public.
When I say "movement" to save public education, what I mean is this: People, like me, who have no particular resources or organizational funding/backing, who got on a plane to be in a room with those like-minded compadres--because they're terrified that America might lose public education. People who think it's not too late. People willing to stake their professional energy on doing right by all kids, keeping democratic equality as critical and central goal of the education system.
Nancy Flanagan, April 30, 2015
3 min read
School & District Management Opinion Why Aren't More School Leaders and Teachers Joining Forces to Get Rid of Destructive Policy?
If your district has a genuine professional collaboration model--different work, but same level of respect and influence for teachers and school leaders--that's admirable. So--are you working together to advocate for change? Or merely going through the motions of Schooling 2015? Why aren't teachers, parents and school leaders everywhere joining forces to put a stop to the worst of it--the selling off of public resources to for-profit CMOs, teacher evaluation by test data, and loss of local control over core work: curriculum, instruction, assessment?
Nancy Flanagan, April 23, 2015
4 min read