Assessments Have Started (even for some kindergartners)
I have heard from parents that assessments have started for some elementary students. But naturally, parents aren't being informed about this.
Seattle Opt-Out.
Here's a link to the K-8 assessments.
Here's a link to the high school assessments.
Some schools still use MAP (except in high school)and some will use Amplify. One parent said she was told that Amplify was being used for "instructional differentiation."
From the Soup for Teachers page via Erin Kinsells Klones:
MAP can potentially be administered three times a year: Sept. 21-Oct. 30, Jan 4-29 and May 9-June 10.
WaKIDS can also be administered, in buildings that have all-day state-funded K, Aug. 1-Oct. 29, Oct. 30-Feb. 14 and Feb. 15-July 31.
This information is available on the District website.
Now the tricky part, the part that concerns us greatly: parents may or may not be informed. Crazy, we know, but that is part of the work we're doing. School admin at your building SHOULD give you a testing calendar and inform you not only of the test but what it is going to be used to discover, who will have access to the data (may shock you, just a heads-up), how long the testing will take, who will conduct it and how the social/emotional health of your child will be monitored during the potentially stressful event.
We'd love to see an opt-out form given out to parents in the first day packets that come home with kids, too, but the District isn't too jazzed about that!
So...I recommend that you talk to your child's teacher and see if they are administering MAP and/or WaKIDS, and when. Then ask questions, informed, perhaps, by what I share with you here, and realize that YOU CAN OPT YOUR CHILD OUT OF ALL TESTING IN GRADES K-8 WITH NO PROBLEM, WHATSOEVER!! You don't need a form, you can write your opt out note on a napkin. Seriously. Be sure and opt out of practice tests and make-up tests, too.
Seattle Opt-Out.
Here's a link to the K-8 assessments.
Here's a link to the high school assessments.
Some schools still use MAP (except in high school)and some will use Amplify. One parent said she was told that Amplify was being used for "instructional differentiation."
From the Soup for Teachers page via Erin Kinsells Klones:
MAP can potentially be administered three times a year: Sept. 21-Oct. 30, Jan 4-29 and May 9-June 10.
WaKIDS can also be administered, in buildings that have all-day state-funded K, Aug. 1-Oct. 29, Oct. 30-Feb. 14 and Feb. 15-July 31.
This information is available on the District website.
Now the tricky part, the part that concerns us greatly: parents may or may not be informed. Crazy, we know, but that is part of the work we're doing. School admin at your building SHOULD give you a testing calendar and inform you not only of the test but what it is going to be used to discover, who will have access to the data (may shock you, just a heads-up), how long the testing will take, who will conduct it and how the social/emotional health of your child will be monitored during the potentially stressful event.
We'd love to see an opt-out form given out to parents in the first day packets that come home with kids, too, but the District isn't too jazzed about that!
So...I recommend that you talk to your child's teacher and see if they are administering MAP and/or WaKIDS, and when. Then ask questions, informed, perhaps, by what I share with you here, and realize that YOU CAN OPT YOUR CHILD OUT OF ALL TESTING IN GRADES K-8 WITH NO PROBLEM, WHATSOEVER!! You don't need a form, you can write your opt out note on a napkin. Seriously. Be sure and opt out of practice tests and make-up tests, too.
Comments
*The EOC Biology is no required for graduation - so it is optional...or optout-able.
**If your 11th grader has met state math requirements, check transcript, the SBAC Math is another optout-able test.
***All K-5 tests are optional, don't be scared off by the Required language!
****Bad news for MS students who are working ahead of grade level. You can no longer get a jump on meeting Math requirements as Math EOCs are now gone. Good news, all your tests are now are optional!
*****10th graders! You all are handcuffed to the SBAC ELA. Sorry! You too 11th graders, if you didn't pass the test last year.
There are NO published stats on pass/fail rate for the 10th graders who took the SBAC ELA test last spring, so unclear how many 11th graders have to retake the test.
optingout parent
We are taking all the test and passing with flying colors.
Live Life
Sources: https://washingtonsbe.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/688/
http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/pubdocs/Frequencydistributions2015.xlsx
All K-8 tests are optional, not just K-5.
10th graders can opt out of SBAC and take it their 11th grade year if they so choose. Last year in Seattle the 11th grade test was administered to the 10th graders (yes, it is true!), that is why there are no published stats. It was a deceptive measure by OSPI, completely lacking in transparency and 100% developmentally inappropriate. It is wrong to test kids on information they haven't covered, any way you look at it.
We encourage folks to check out our fb page:
https://www.facebook.com/Seattle-Opt-Out-430265387124998/
And we welcome your questions and shared infor there!
AS
Parents really, really, only have 2 ways to pull the district's chain:
OPT OUT
VOTE NO
If you want this district to listen to parents and put kids first, these are the only 2 tools that will mess with the super's forward momentum. Starve them of data or dollars or both. Unless and until parents en mass do this, the district will still be a 'talk to the hand' kind of loony bin.
Changing board directors can only do so much. Do you seriously think Nyland treats Peters and Patu with deference?
Opt out! Your teacher should know how your student is doing based on the fact that he/she is a professional and that is their job! Seattle teachers for generations have supported students before there was MAP or WASL or MSP or SBAC or Amplify.
Multiple weigh-in won't fatten a pig. Multiple testings won't teach students.
Parents have direct power over few tools that mean anything to the district. Opting out and voting no on levies are it. How many more anti-student decisions or procedures do we parents need to experience before we take matters into our own hands to try and stop the nonsense?
I am disgusted about the closure of middle college in West Seattle. Those students needed support. They are not getting it. This super wants my kids' data. He won't be getting it.
OPTED OUT
Jan
Math Matters
--confused about SBAC
Whoops - I don't know what I was thinking! Yes - only 152 of the 10th graders who took the test didn't score high enough to meet the graduation requirement.
-Optedmy kidout
(South Shore and Washington Middle School, by the way).
I think he does. Do I think he takes them seriously (or any director)? No. Because they do not seriously challenge him on anything.
Susan H, here's the thing. Each parent can do what they feel best for their child. It's your right. In yesteryear, I actually had been informed when assessments happened.
For some kids, especially Sped kids, it can be a serious issue and one that, if parents knew about, could prepare their child to face. Testing isn't and doesn't have to be a scary thing but no one likes a surprise.
I think that if a parent does opt their child out they should send an e-mail to the Board and senior management (via e-mail address - schoolboard@seattleschools.org) and tell them why so, as Susan says, someone will know. I suspect they will track opt-outs by school even if they don't have the reasons.
And the reasons are myriad. As Opted Out said, it could be over-testing, bell times, an issue central to your school, the after-school-starts staffing adjustments, BTA IV projects.
The district has seen that changing the Board doesn't always mean so much. That leaves opting out and voting against the BTA levy.
The only other thing they get is a lawsuit but that's much harder.
Ex. for advanced learning testing this year, placement will be based on CoGAT plus ???? (MAP? SBAC? fall 2015 or spring 2015?)
For middle school math placement (past experience at Eckstein), initial placement was based on a matrix of MAP vs MSP scores with a little wiggle room based on teacher rec and assessments in the first few weeks of school. Is that still happening? does SBAC take the place of MAP in that matrix?
And in both above cases, what if your child opted out with no scores to be used in that scenario?
-Diane
http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=1560872
-Diane
http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/pubdocs/Frequencydistributions2015.xlsx
--arsessments
Melissa: thanks for the further explanation. :)
BHS mom
HP
Class of 2017 students need the SBA ELA, and Algebra or Geometry EOC (End of Course) exam, and a Biology EOC.
So, you can opt out, and we encourage it.
AS (Seattle Opt Out Group)
https://www.facebook.com/Seattle-Opt-Out-430265387124998/
BHS mom
Mom of 4
AS is being very confusing. There is NO difference.
Melissa might be right about the ceremony issue but AS's posts even confuse that issue (if that's the distinction AS is trying to make).
--- aka
Just to clarify, the information that I posted to the Soup for Teachers page (quoted above) was the response I received on the Seattle OptOut Facebook page when I asked about testing in Kindergarten. Thanks for all your great work.
Erin K.
Sorry for the confusion; I am actually trying to clarify a few things before I comment further. I certainly don't intend to muddy any waters. I have a question in to someone at OSPI and at SPS and am waiting... What I am getting at, and I hope to understand further, is the idea that colleges/universities don't need diplomas in order accept students.
There was a time, not long ago, when high stakes standardized exams were completely separate from earning diplomas; that may have been the case for many folks commenting here, even. There is some action at OSPI brewing to visit that again. Completing the necessary coursework with passing grades and taking the SAT/ACT (if schools continue to require that) is typically enough to gain access to college (along with the bells and whistles of essays and volunteer hours, etc). But SBAC/WASL/HSPE tests have NOT been conditions for college entrance.
Passing high stakes standardized tests are required, at this point, to earn a diploma in Wash. State, however. Sooo...if you don't care about the paper and the ceremony, and you intend to go to college, why the high stakes tests?!
Now it is recognized that this issue is a problem for kids who want to enter the work force directly, where a hs diploma is valued as a certificate of completion and helps them get to the next step. We don't want the opt out movement to bypass career-bound students while releasing college-bound students from the grip of high stakes testing, but there is no denying that it is an issue worth exploring and potentially laden with hurdles that impact kids in poverty, ELL students, need SPED accommodations or otherwise have a heavier load to lift to attend college.
To clarify, the difference lies more with wanting a diploma or not wanting one.
AS
I've looked into this before. As mirmac1 noted, colleges list the requirements for freshman admission - and I've never seen them include HSPE or EOC exam results or community service hours or senior projects or 1.5 PE credits or a health class. The state and the district have added many graduation requirements that are necessary only to get that diploma and walk at graduation. I'd like to see more students opting out of all these things. Let's refocus the schools on providing services students and families want and need.
-wondering about private