Seattle Opt Out Meets This Week

 From the Seattle Opt Out Group:

Seattle Opt Out Group's next meeting, with two dynamic speakers, Jesse Hagopian and Fred Hamel. We will discuss high stakes testing, what is happening in Seattle, how to refuse the tests (and why), and much more. Everyone is welcome!

March 12 (Thursday)
Southwest Library

6pm-7:45pm

event info (and more) our Facebook page

Comments

Anonymous said…
This weekend I heard if enough kids don't take a test at school the results for the school are not counted, or counted as failed or something. Can anyone give fact vs. hearsay from a source that isn't the district on this?

New
Anonymous said…
It counts as a 0 for the school, not the teacher. Since most schools are "failing", the potential to be labeled as "failing" in case of a mass test refusal isn't very scary for us any more.
-boo
Anonymous said…
Dear boo, thank you for that explanation. So if our school gets a zero because a bunch of us decide to decline our kids taking it and some government person sees the zero they should be able to see it is because a lot of us did not participate instead of because our kids scored at the bottom. So to state again, it would be easy for an official to see that the score is because we opted out. Is that right? I want to be sure.

New
New, yes, I believe that is correct because the district has to use a certain code for absent, refusal, etc.
Anonymous said…
New, a student that refuses/opts out of the test receives a 0. This 0 is factored into the the overall proficiency score of the school and district.

If a school has more than 5% of students overall and/or in any subgroup of students, the school will not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and will be open to any consequences/sanctions specific to the number of consecutive years it did not make AYP. Now, as boo mentioned, if this school wasn't going to make AYP anyway, the fact that more than 5% of students opted out has no effect on the school.

However, the school does not receive a "0" designation if 95% of students don't test. That school simply doesn't make AYP and has to deal with the consequences. The school still has to report the % of students who met standard (or made proficiency) in each grade, content area, and student subgroup. Those opt-out 0's count against that percentage.

But again, this is a difference without distinction if that school wasn't going to make AYP even if all students tested.

--- swk

P.S. Melissa is correct that the schools code the students who didn't test due to absence, refusal, etc. This would not be reported on the school report code, though. However, a school would be able to report separately the percentage of students absent, refused, etc.
Anonymous said…
I meant, "If a school has more than 5% of students overall and/or in any subgroup of students WHO DO NOT TEST..."
Anonymous said…
Man, I'm all full of typos today. I meant "school report card."

--- swk
Anonymous said…
This is all business? And making students competitive for business? How about make SBAC compete with all the other private test providers for a seat at the testing table? Why should SBAC have a monopoly on testing in public schools? Ed reformers who love choice so much, should be just hunky-dory with the idea that we can have a choice in testing too. How about we give students a choice in their testing too? Just like charter schools. "Charter testing".

How would it work? First, we'd lay off the daytime testing during school hours. This would already be a huge bonus in every public schools. Like all other good tests, let's test on a Saturday. If students want a test, or want to opt in to any certain test, by all means let the public schools give them that choice. Students should be able to pick the ISEE, SSAT, OR... drumroll, the SBAC. And, the schools would pay the testing fees... of any testing that a family wanted, including ISEE or SSAT.

The testing organizations themselves should sell the idea of these tests to families - who get to CHOOSE. And, the testing organizations themselves should arrange for the venue of the testing. That's what the ISEE and SSAT do today. Nobody wants your test? Well, then no school will be willing to be open on a Saturday to administer.

How will it be scored? Like all other competitors. Your score on the SBAC will be your rank on the day you took the test. That's how the ISEE and SSAT work today. You are competitively scored against everybody who takes the test when you do. Completely fair.

OptIn NotOut
OptIn, those are some very interesting ideas and, from what I have heard from ed reformers, right up their alley.
Anonymous said…
Missouri judge rules Smarter Balanced test consortium unconstitutional.

Huh. Haven't read this elsewhere other than this conservative news aggregation site, and the verdict will be appealed. But, my, what an interesting wrinkle.

EdVoter
Ed Voter, I did put that up a week or so ago (probably in a news roundup).
Anonymous said…
We just got our schedules. Oh goody. SBAC, the pretest + the real thing, will take 2 FULL MONTHS . Our school will administer from MAR 23 to MAY 22. Nonstop. Solid. Our work is set!

What the heck?????!!#$%!!

When will we ever find time to give the Amplify.... not to mention, the Amplify spring checkpoint???? How will we survived?

Seems funny? Its no joke. A fact. 2 Months. Gone. For SBAC.

Empl
Anonymous said…
How many days of testing per student (5?) and for how long? What does SBAC testing mean for daily student schedules during that period? They have to take a pretest?

questions
Anonymous said…
Don't you want them to take a pretest? They'll surely do better on the real thing if they practice.

Well, at the secondary level students are sprinkled in different classes. Basically, they all have to sit around and wait for everyone. Sure, some class work goes on, as students finish, so long as computers and libraries aren't needed. Imagine, trying to teach anything, when a different third of your class is missing every day to test, or finish testing. Imagine a kid being absent, and then squeezing them in to the test rotation. That kid will now miss other classes, to take the SBAC that was missed.

That's how it goes.

Empl
Anonymous said…
SSAT is scored against last 3 year's students, not students taking it on one particular day.

--othertests

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