This form is to be completed only by parent/guardian(s) of students not participating in state testing for the 2021-2022 school year.Link to online form: https://bit.ly/FLVSOptOutForm
IMPORTANT NOTES
As far as we know – this does not pertain to brick and mortar schools, nor district virtual programs.
Until either Gov. DeSantis or Education Commissioner Corcoran waive the requirements, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO FSA NEXT YEAR, THE STATE REQUIREMENT THIS YEAR IS STILL IN EFFECT FOR 10TH GRADE FSA ELA READING AND FOR THIRD GRADE ON THE FSA ELA READING.
DISCLAIMER*: It is each parents’ responsibility to ensure alternative assessments, NOT the schools’ responsibility. This post by The Opt Out Florida Network recommends and assumes that parents:
This organization is NOT “The Minimal Participation Network.”
We are The OPT OUT Florida Network. Proudly.
Since 2012, parents have turned to us in desperation, sharing their outrage and frustration about the campaign of intimidation they receive from schools when they voice any objection to the obsessive and inappropriate high stakes testing, which labels our capable children as failures, with devastating results. We empathize with parents AND teachers’ stories of incessant, weekly i-Ready minutes… or else…; bogus threats of retention that will not happen; unsubstantiated threats of remediation to their (YOUR) children – all based on test scores – FSA scores, to be specific. You are lied to, in order to secure your compliance and deliver up your child to a rigged test. You AND your children are bullied and harassed when you do opt out, even if you call it minimal participation. These are not appropriate behaviors for professional adults in a school environment.
Opting out says, “I do not consent.”
Anything else IS consent.
In our earlier days, when opting out was often met with hostile responses from schools, parents were hesitant to opt out and the term minimal participation was coined by a parent out of good intentions. It was a way to avoid pushback from the schools. But that comes from a place of fear, not empowerment, and it implies minimal effort.
Even though we continue to promote opting out in a way that does not affect the precious 95% participation, too many principals tell us, by their words and deeds, that they value school grades more than our kids.
Guess what, folks?
What minimal participation and 95% participation guarantees is that the Florida legislature will NEVER listen to you.
Think about it. Why should they?
Not until parents wake up and let it be known, en masse, that we reject their high stakes accountability, will the powers that be hear you.
Years ago, a teacher commented on the lengths parents go to just to make testing less painful for their children. He said to me,
Parents are constantly trying to figure out ways to make what schools do to their kids less traumatic. It’s as if they don’t realize they can shut down all the stupid testing with one, giant, focused protest.
“Minimal participation” is an example of that. It is parental tribute to the very adults who facilitate this broken system of test and punish accountability; a system, which makes children hate school and veteran teachers leave their profession.
It is a misnomer that has also led to the misperception, which implies:
that parents who opt out harm our schools. They do not.
that opting out is about “just this child.” It is not.
that parents, who opt out, thumb their noses at our schools and the people who work there. We. Do. Not.
There is a bigger picture, and we are all a part of it.
We know that standardized tests are a better measure of affluence than of true academic ability. When schools don’t “make the grade,” they are labeled as “failing schools” and are denied equitable funding and resources. Such schools are subject to being taken over by private, charter corporations; removing local control, and fracturing close-knit communities, in particular, predominantly black and brown communities. We OPT OUT of that.
The Opt Out Florida Network objects to high stakes testing in order to strongly support public school teachers, who are also harmed by high stakes accountability. Because of high stakes testing, experienced teachers are fast becoming an endangered species. We OPT OUT of that.
No school has ever been denied funding because students opted out. None. Nationally. Not even in the state of New York, where annually, 20% of all students… OPT OUT.
There are many public school teachers, former and current, in our ranks, who not only support the movement with their time, but also opt their own kids out of testing. The behavior of a few rogue teachers or principals is not reflective of our alliance with educators in support of public education. Bad behavior on the part of our schools diminishes public education and it must be called out. Don’t complain about it. Report it.
This week, a very informed parent notified her child’s school about opting out of the upcoming FSA.
Twice, the principal asked her if she wanted to opt out or “minimally participate.” Twice, she told the principal that she wanted to “opt out” of all FSA testing for the year…
Principal: “There really isn’t an “opt out” option. “Minimal participation” is better for the school because it shows that we attempted to give the student the test, so they do count in our numbers.”
The irony.
“Please let us know what you would like (Name) to do.”
She did. Twice. Was the mother not clear enough when she twice communicated,
“My child will opt out of all FSA tests this year”?
…or did the principal just dismiss her?
This principal is not informed enough to understand that minimal participation IS opting out, permitting one action and forbidding the other. The spelling and meaning are different, but the manipulation of parents and students to test at all cost is what is perpetuated by using the language of minimal participation.
Even though schools know that we have successfully opted out for nearly a decade now, they must continue the line, because heaven help us if they ever gave us permission to opt out and it ends the testing abuse.
Don’t be afraid to call it what it is. Your protection against institutional bullying comes not from appeasing them to keep the peace, but from being informed, so that you can use that knowledge from a position of strength and confidence. You have that information here. Continue reading →
Jennifer Sabin is an Admin in Opt Out Polk and was the subject of this article in The Ledger (below). She is an academic advisor at Southeastern University. Jennifer is also a former eighth grade Language Arts teacher from Polk County, Florida, with a BS in Communication from the University of Miami, a mom of three beautiful children and a former Polk County school board candidate. Jennifer has been opting her kids out of Florida’s high stakes tests since 2016.
LAKELAND — Charlotte Sabin, 13, has been opting out of state Florida Standards Assessment testing for five years now, beginning when she was in the third grade, with no repercussions.
“I was kind of nervous because I was the only one in my school doing it,” she said about not participating with the rest of her third-grade class. “But I also felt really cool because I was sitting there going, ‘All you have to take this test and I’m going to go eat doughnuts.’ The next year, I had a friend who opted out and it was cool because that was the only time in my life I’ve ever been a trendsetter.”
Charlotte, who attends Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, goes to class on testing days, breaks the seal on her test, fills out her name, then her mother, Jennifer Sabin, checks her out of school and the pair head to the doughnut shop. It has become an annual tradition.
Jennifer Sabin, of Opt Out Polk and daughter, Charlotte, 13.
It was Sabin who talked to her daughter about what she feels is the importance of opting out of statewide testing, something she and other critics refer to as the “test and punish system.” That’s because kids who do well in class otherwise are retained in the third grade if they don’t pass the test. In addition, high school seniors who pass all their classes can be held back from graduating if they don’t pass the FSA. And teachers whose students don’t make something known as “adequate yearly progress,” can have bonuses withheld, which, they say, is unfair for teachers instructing struggling students.
Charlotte said her mom “explained that it was a really important thing for her … she explained that it helped the teachers and the students. It would be a great thing to do because it could help bring change. And if you do this, other people might do it, too. I like helping people. It’s fun.”
Sabin said opting out of testing is something most parents don’t realize they can do — despite what any administrator or guidance counselor might tell parents.
Opt Out Polk
Sabin heads up a group called Opt Out Polk, which helps to answer questions from parents who are considering having their child not take the statewide test. Some parents say the test gives their children crippling anxiety, while others say one test should not make or break a child’s progression from third grade to fourth. Failing any portion of the FSA can also keep a high school student from graduating.
Standardized testing in Polk County began last week and lasts for several more weeks as students in different grades and in different subjects fill in the bubbles on their answer sheets, click on the right answers on a computer or write essays.
“I think I first realized it because somebody told me, ‘Have you heard of Opt Out?’” Sabin recalled. “I was frustrated with the way the test was being used and I didn’t want my kids to participate in that system of evaluation.”
Sabin teamed up with The Opt Out Florida Network, finding a little-known option for parents: the good cause exemption, which allows parents to use other assessments instead of the FSA, or a student-work portfolio from throughout the school year.
Jennifer has been opting out of the FSA for years. Charlotte, seen here on the right, is noticeably younger in this photo.
According to the Polk County Public Schools webpage, the determination of a good cause exemption for promotion to fourth grade includes:
Standford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition, scoring above the 45th percentile.
STAR Reading Assessment — scoring at or above the 50th percentile.
Istation ISIP Reading Assessment — scoring at or above the 50th percentile.
“Polk County Public Schools fully supports the option of third-grade portfolios as outlined in (state statute), which states that a student who demonstrates through a portfolio that he/she is performing at least at level 2 on the statewide standardized assessment is eligible for good cause exemption,” the website reads.
It is not known how many Polk County Public Schools students opt out because district officials say they do not keep track of that statistic.
Sabin, who is an academic adviser at Southeastern University, said the test was not originally designed to be used the way the state uses it.
“There’s no good reason to take the FSA,” Sabin said. “It wasn’t designed to evaluate students the way Florida uses it. It wasn’t designed to evaluate teachers the way they use it. The FSA causes harm to teachers and schools. We know it correlates strongly with socio- economic status. It makes it hard for students from low socio-economic status to perform well.”
Pros and cons of standardized tests
State standardized testing came about under the late Democratic Gov Lawton Chiles, who developed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test — or FCAT — in the 1990s. When Republican Gov. Jeb Bush was sworn into office in 1999, he developed his A-Plus Plan, which for the first time tied state testing to school grades and held struggling schools accountable — allowing students at those schools to transfer to better-performing public schools, charter schools or even private schools and to take their per-pupil funding with them.
And that tie to money is when things got competitive and complicated with testing.
According to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which “promotes educational excellence for every child in America via quality research, analysis, and commentary, as well as advocacy and exemplary charter school authorizing in Ohio,” standardized tests offer objective assessment.
They measure “students based on a similar set of questions, are given under nearly identical testing conditions, and are graded by a machine or blind reviewer. They are intended to provide an accurate, unfiltered measure of what a student knows,” the institute states.
The institute says the tests offer officials the chance to compare student achievement at the classroom, school, local and statewide levels.
And finally, the Fordham Institute says, “like it or not, standardized exam data remain the best way to hold schools accountable for their academic performance.” The measures enable education officials to identify the schools that need intervention, extra help or even closure.
But opponents say the playing field is not level because students are not all the same.
According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, which has 113,573 members who are superintendents principals teachers and education advocates from more than 129 countries, there are multiple reasons standardized tests are problematic.
“Standardized tests exist for administrative, political, and financial purposes, not for educational ones,” the ASCD website reads. “Test companies make billions. Politicians get elected by promising better test results. Administrators get funding and avoid harsh penalties by boosting test scores. Everyone benefits except the children. For them, standardized testing is worthless and worse.”
The association points out that “test companies (a multibillion-dollar a year industry) not only manufacture the tests, they also manufacture the courses and programs that can be taken to ‘prepare for the test.’” And, the association says, tests favor those who have socio- economic advantages because their parents can buy them books, computers and even tutors to help them.
“If you don’t have the money, and your school is in a low socio-economic area that gets less funding than rich suburban schools, then you’re not getting the same preparation for the test as those at the higher socio-economic levels do,” the association website reads.
The association added that standardized tests don’t value the diversity of students taking the tests, who have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the English language, different learning and thinking styles, different family backgrounds, and different past experiences.
The association says the tests cause unwarranted stress for students. And, because teachers know that test scores may affect their salaries and job security, they and their administrators have been caught on multiple occasions cheating.
In December 2008, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper investigation found suspect test scores at five Atlanta-area elementary schools. An investigation was launched and specially appointed state investigators cited multiple cheating violations, along with organized and systematic misconduct in Atlanta schools. The state investigators’ report named 178 teachers,principals and administrators at 44 Atlanta schools, with 80 educators confessing to cheating, according to the report. More than 20 pleaded guilty, while 11 were found guilty of felony charges.
Not all testing is bad
Sabin said that while she does not want her children to participate in something she views as ultimately unfair to everyone involved, she actually has no problem with teachers testing their students.
“There is a common misperception that those of us who support opting out are anti- assessment,” Sabin said. “It’s that assessment done by the professional educator that we rely on as to where (students) are and where they need to be. The teachers are constantly assessing what their students need to know The five question quizzes — those are the assessments that are valuable. The end of course exams do function differently…… It’s part of their course grade. They’re going to take a 30% hit to their grade, which is going to hurt their (grade point average). I don’t advocate opting out of EOC.”
She said, ultimately, FSA and tests like it are preparing students who want to go to college and graduate school, but not all students are headed in that direction.
“I don’t think we need to spend 10 years of a kid’s education to fill in a bubble in case they want to go to grad school,” she said.
As for Charlotte, without ever taking a standardized test, she is heading to Harrison School for the Arts next year — a high-performing public school with a highly competitive selection process.
Jennifer Sabin of Opt out Polk and daughter, Charlotte, 13
“I’m really surprised that I got in, myself,” Charlotte said. “I would say that I’m pretty good at creative writing. After college, one thing I plan to do is become a book editor because I can get paid to read books. And encourage (authors) to make their book better and grow as a person, as well.”
Ledger reporter Kimberly C. Moore can be reached at kmoore@theledger.com or 863-802- 7514. Follow her on Twitter at @KMooreTheLedger.
We have now been opting out for years in Florida and schools are increasingly familiar with the concept of opting out. Administrators are growing in awareness of our motivations and hopefully, understand that we are not working against them, but against the system. When parents communicate their wishes respectfully, schools may be more willing to work with them about opting out, within district rules.
Many students with exceptionalities or learning disabilities qualify for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) accommodations in a 504 or an IEP Individual Education Plan (IEP). Those accommodations may include extended time for testing.
In some cases, however –
Parents and teachers have reported that some students opting out have been made to “sit and stare,” or threatened with “sit and stare” for the entire allowable time for testing, even when the student has indicated that they’re finished with their test. And for some students, extended time can last the entire school day.
“…the policies are vague in an effort to intimidate parents into not opting out. She also said she has heard about at least one case in which children who have been granted double time to take exams because of a diagnosed disability or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have been told that they will have to sit and stare for the entire extended time they would have used to take the exam.”
That’s abusive and it’s NOT what the rules require.
In a comment on that article from “Jupiter Mom”:
“This isn’t anything new for Florida. Kids already have the “sit and stare” policy – test or no test. It’s awful for 3rd graders to have to sit in their desks with hands clasped and feet quiet while their classmates finish their tests. Kids are not allowed reading material, paper to doodle on or anything. When a student completes their test, they must just sit and stare. Kids are frustrated by this. And for a child who needs more time to complete their test (have this accommodation written on their IEP), it’s tortuous. These kids are not only given more time, the additional time is mandatory. Parents must decide how badly the kid needs more time because they will have to sit in their desks for the full, maximum allowed extra time – no matter when they complete their test. Kids with this accommodation are often ones with attention issues so this is more than abusive. Currently, all kids take the test- they must if they show up for school. But this is just one reason why high stakes testing is so destructive. We must end this nonsense that benefits no one except rich dudes in ed testing corporations.”
Jupiter Mom is correct… except for one thing. Although it may be mandatory to allow extended time, it is NOT mandatory to force the student to sit there in front of the test for the entire allowable extended time. When the student says they are finished, they are finished.
“A student may be provided extended time to complete a test session. Extended time mustbe provided in accordance with the student’s IEP or Section 504 Plan. Extended time isnot unlimited time; it should align with the accommodation used regularly in the student’s classroom instruction and assessments. The student is not required to use all of the extended time that is allowed and may end the test session prior to the expiration of the extended time. Each test session must be completed within one school day.”
Therefore, if you notify your child’s school that you will be opting him/her out of testing and they indicate that they must still sit for the entire allowable extended time, because of an IEP or a 504, please share this document with them and let them know that, just as you want your child to be respectful at school, you expect your child to be treated respectfully.
They already have the Accommodations Guide and they know what the right thing is to do. But they may need to know that you know too.
Test scores are in. And the letters are going out.
From a parent:
“I am so upset. Please can you help me? My daughter is going into 8th grade and has received Straight A’s in all her advanced classes for 2 years in a row and in 5th grade. She also takes high school courses with A’s. She got a 2 on Reading FSA and now they are telling me she has to take Reading which will remove one of her high school classes in 8th grade. I never want her to take this test again. How do I get her out of Intensive Reading so she can take her high school electives and her Honors Algebra?
I feel that I should have known about opting her out. She came home the first day of the Writing FSA an absolute wreck. I will never put her through this again. After the 3 hours of FSA testing, her classes gave work, reading assignments, projects and more tests. It was an awful week returning from Spring Break and it took a toll on her.“
Since test scores were released a few weeks ago, The Opt Out Florida Network has received many such messages from parents from all over the state, some far more egregious.
Remember, you are the parent and the final authority for your child’s education rests with YOU.
FSA scores were released on June 15, 2018 (here, here and here) and many parents are being informed that their child is being denied electives or class placement because he/she received a low FSA score. Some parents are being informed now. Others will learn of this at the beginning of the school year with surprise schedule changes. Students in Honors or AP classes, simultaneously placed in Intensive Reading, sacrificing electives (Art, Orchestra, foreign language or computers, etc.) based on FSA scores. Makes sense to you, right? Nope, me neither…
This is school or district policy, not state law and parents CAN challenge it. Be informed and take action.
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is clear (bold and underlined for emphasis):
“…the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment is not the sole determiner of promotion and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews, and assessments are available to the child to assist parents and the school district in knowing when a child is reading at or above grade level and ready for grade promotion.” (https://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-7208/dps-2014-128.pdf – Page 6)
There are many more moving parts to this issue of poor class placement. For one thing, IF there is a deficiency, the school is obligated to provide written notice to parents earlier in the school year. The school cannot simply remediate a child because of a single test score at the end of the year. There are other data that must be considered in that decision. If a child is actually deficient in reading, that deficiency must be identified and addressed. So parents should never just take anyone’s word that a test score says “your child must be remediated.”
There are only two scenarios:
1. The child DOES NOT have a reading deficiency, just a low test score.
The parent’s input must be considered. If the school recommends remediation, the
parent may decline.
2. The child DOES have a reading deficiency. The deficiency must be identified and
addressed with parents. There is a specific evaluation process that must happen.
Don’t let them off the hook.
When the school tells you that they have no choice because it’s the law, ask them POLITELY to provide it in writing – the law – the statute – or the district policy.
They will not. IT DOES NOT EXIST.
For those students with no FSA score because they opted out, there is no actual basis for these decisions, but that is no guarantee that districts and schools will not try to remediate these students – whether out of retaliation or because they are misinformed, it’s still wrong. Someone thinks this is what they are supposed to do. Children’s education is suffering because of this misinformation being passed down from school districts to schools. Without FSA scores, schools should rely on report cards and teacher recommendations for proper placement.
It’s summer and you can prepare now by becoming informed. Your child is relying on you to know your stuff. No one else is looking out for them. It’s up to YOU.
Informed parents do not need to be afraid or intimidated. Just persistent.
Here are some tools that have been proven to work – there is no magic here, just official district or state documents. In the Opt Out movement, these are our “power tools.” Use them to provide your child the education to which they are entitled.
Other districts have similar forms, but in case your district tells you they don’t have one, you can use this language from the Broward form in your own email. I can recall no instances where a parent has challenged class placement based on test scores and has not been successful. You may need to be persistent, but you can do it!
“I understand why the course recommendation was made; however, I wish to have my child placed in (desired elective) instead of Intensive Reading. I am willing to provide the academic and emotional support my child may need while participating in this course.
Thank you very much for your concern. Looking forward to a great school year!
Sincerely…..”
Or you can simply state:
“I wish to have my child placed in his chosen elective(s), (list them here) and I am willing to provide the academic and emotional support my child may need while participating in this course.”
Use the information in this post with your child’s school if you need to. Send them the links to the material from the DOE.
Remediation based on FSA scores has not been a state requirement since 2015 and it has been successfully CHALLENGED many times.
Information on House Bill 7069 May 18, 2015 – Slide 11
Information on House Bill 7069 May 18, 2015 – Slide 12
From the Orlando Sentinel on HB7069 (May 8 2015):
“HB 7069… ended the requirement for automatic “intensive” reading or math classes for students who scored below “satisfactory” on the tests, or less than a 3 on the 5-level exams. The Florida Department of Education in a memo today outlined the change for school superintendents. Schools, the memo said, must still provide help to students who struggle on the exams — and that could mean remedial classes.
But they can “make decisions that are in the best interest of each student regarding course enrollment and instructional support,” wrote Chancellor Hershel Lyons. Educators have long worried that the required remedial classes eliminated electives for many students, robbing them of a chance to take courses of interest or that might set them on a career path.”
You can read the entire article here.
Please read the memo in Resources below.
If a child is to be retained legitimately, much more is required of the school than for the child to simply “do it all over again.” In the rare instance that a student actually needs to be retained, it should be negotiated with the input of the child’s educational team of parents, teacher, guidance counselor and principal, and with parental consent – there are strict guidelines that must be adhered to and parents should be aware of those as well. This information is also contained in the same TAP, under SERVICES FOR STUDENTS RETAINED IN GRADE 3 – Pg 3 MID-YEAR PROMOTION OF RETAINED GRADE 3 STUDENTS – Pg 4
Within the Florida education statutes, each school district has some flexibility for how to implement the law. Class placements and student progression are ultimately regulated by your school district’s “Student Progression Plan”. This document is the road map to help you navigate district policy for your child throughout the school year.
To be your child’s best advocate, you should familiarize yourself with the information pertinent to your child before school starts back in the fall.
IMPORTANT – Remember to communicate with your school by e-mail. It is a written record, a timeline and documentation of your efforts to remedy the school’s mistake. Save it. It cannot be deleted by the school and they cannot say they didn’t receive your e-mail. If you use the information provided here and the school is still not cooperating with your request to correct class placement, forward your e-mail correspondence to your school board members and your superintendent and ask for help. CC your local education reporter. Not kidding.
One last note – Give the school staff the benefit of the doubt. Most schools are being given incorrect or insufficient information by the districts. Most will never have seen the information you are provided here. Yes, they should know better. Don’t waste your energy “being right.” Provide them the information so that they can do better for your child and move on.
Save your energy. We have bigger fights ahead.
This misuse of test data, especially when students have a clear record of performing well in school, should be a reminder to all parents that a low test score is always more harmful to children than no test score. All of this underscores just how invalid these tests are, giving no credit to teachers and students for a whole year of hard work teaching and learning.
For our public schools to return to common sense, and genuine teaching and learning, parents must stop feeding the testing machine and do the one thing we have the power to do. Deny the data used to harm our children, our teachers and our schools. Opt Out.
Please share this information. Someone you know needs it.
The FSA Writing test is being administered in grades 4-10 across Florida now and it’s not what one could easily mistake for “valid” or “reliable.”
Less than a week into this year’s FSA testing season (March 1 through May 18) and data-mining alarms are blaring. We should pace ourselves.
MIDDLE SCHOOL “My daughter opted out yesterday and told me the prompt was “Should Kids Take Online Classes” – it was an argumentative writing prompt. Just FYI.” __________ One middle school student revealed that one of the eighth grade writing prompts was on “Changing School Start Times.” The student said that the sources were 1) “science-based FOR later start times” – like this. 2) anecdotal – “just a parent’s opinion AGAINST later start times because it disrupted her schedule.”
It’s a hot topic with political consequences for every municipality (see here, here, here and here). Communities are divided. Understandably, some parents are conflicted about the start times and work schedules. School boards are balking at the cost of adding bus routes, drivers….
Others are saying at school board meetings,
“Stop! For once, just do what’s right for the kids. Make decisions based on the evidence. For once. Please.”
While we would agree with the actual evidence and arguments supporting later start times for adolescents, that’s not the issue here. If they want to force their high stakes onto our children, they need to do a better job of putting valid test questions together. The questions don’t seem to be balanced. The questions, as presented, steer children toward a particular outcome, complete with reward or punishment for thinking (arguing) one way over another. The thing is, the kids know it and they know how to game the system to produce the desired result – which is how the data-miners can sell their product: students’ data. Rigged much?
We used to be so concerned about product placement in tests, targeting children. Today’s testing companies are more sophisticated, less obvious, and more insidious than ever. They’re drilling deeper, gathering student data to more effectively target our children for profit. Face it, parents. Kids are commodities and schools are the meat market. To add insult to injury, who pays for it? We do! Such a bargain for our reformster ‘friends.’
Of course, with friends like that…
__________
HIGH SCHOOL – The Tenth grade ELA FSA
Two prompts: 1. Gun Control. One source was supportive – and two sources were opposed, one without solid evidence and one was more of an opinion piece. 2. Inventions that happen by chance – Sources for this one were more balanced.
Considering that Florida is rampant with student activism now, specifically about gun control, this is conspicuous and conveniently timely.
In a recent practice test with writing prompts about the Electoral College, two sources were opposed with “data-based sources”, while the one supporting the Electoral College was not well sourced.
It essentially forced students to write an essay, where the favored position was in opposition to the Electoral College – for a better test score. One student tried to write his essay FOR the Electoral College but became “super frustrated.” He stopped his essay and refocused it to write about how poor the sources were and why. We think he did the right thing.
It was also reported to us that the “electoral college” prompt was an actual prompt for this week’s test. Therefore, some students had a prompt that they may have had time to think about!
The FSA is created for the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) by the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Parent and education activist, Deb Herbage has researched and written a great deal about AIR and the evolution of their relationship with the FLDOE. You can read more in her guest post for national education blogger, Mercedes Schneider:
So exactly WHO is writing the FSA questions?
What have you asked your kids about the FSA this week, and what have they told you?
We’d really like to know.
Teachers can’t tell us. They’re not allowed to know.
Is it possible that the tests are just poorly written? Sure. Anything is possible.
But so far, just one week into testing, Florida’s 2018 FSA duck is quacking like a student survey.
As long as the State of Florida continues to tie high stakes consequences to these poorly written tests, parents should know that they don’t have to buy whatever it is they’re selling – certainly not that these tests will improve education.
One of the most important things for parents to know is that they don’t have to offer up their children’s data to feed the high stakes testing machine and Florida’s false accountability that, every single day, diminishes and labels our students, teachers and schools.
Testing begins on March 1 and it is more important than ever to deny the data which fuel the attacks on public schools. Be informed. Be involved. Take action. And spread the word.
The past year has brought some of the most punitive mandates (HB 7069 – 2017) from the state of Florida, with increasingly blatant attacks on public education. This legislative session is well under way and the actions of Florida’s legislators (HB 7055) promise to further hack away at the ability of our public schools to provide the high quality education to our children, to which they are entitled by Florida law.
It is EACH parent’s duty to investigate and to weigh the harm being done to their child’s education by high stakes testing, computerized and dehumanized curriculum, and to understand that it is THEIR choice, whether or not to allow their child to test, and that doing so provides the data with which to rank, sort and label their children and teachers, harming public education for all.
This is the current Opt Out Guide for Florida for this year.
The information for opting out has not changed significantly from last year to this year. In order to ascertain that you have the most current information, the date of the last update will be indicated at the bottom of this post.
TOPICS COVERED
Steps to Opt Out Refusing a Paper Based Test Refusing a Computer Based Test What do we know about NR2 and NT codes?
Emails from FLDOE RE: NR2/NT scores Alternative Assessment Resources Third Grade Resources Test Questions Every Parent Needs To Ask State of Florida Testing Calendar
It’s hard to believe, but there are still parents out there who don’t know that they can opt out of the tests. Find your local group, connect with your opt out community and let’s keep growing this movement.
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Jasper’s dissertation is an indictment of Jeb Bush’s hallmark education legislation, “Florida’s A+ Plan”, which has become the fulcrum about which Florida’s convoluted accountability system pivots. The Big Daddy of high stakes – school grades – rests on the state’s authority to retain third grade children in order to artificially bolster test scores in the 4th grade. Even if retained children, in the short-term, are shown to perform better on testing in the 4th grade, the data show that the benefits diminish over the long-term. By the numbers – this research shows that children retained in the third grade ultimately fare worse throughout their education and even later on in life.
School grades holds sway over teachers’ livelihoods and professional ethics. They hold public education hostage by the state’s preferred tools of educational torture for teachers and children alike – rigid pacing guides, scripted curricula (test prep) and the almighty test. Under the state’s thumb of school grades, the districts’ moral duty to the real education of young children may be crushed. Collateral damage.
In the protection racket called “school grades”, the heaviest weapon in the reformsters’ arsenal is the reality that is Third Grade Retention.
The FLDOE consistently cites one study (Green and Winters, 2006). Kathleen Jasper’s study shows that the Greene and Winters study did not go far enough, and that in the end, Greene inflated the success of the A+ Plan. Following last week’s celebrated rhetoric in Tallahassee, if legislators really want meaningful accountability and value their reputations and credibility, they CANNOT ignore these important findings. They must acknowledge the implications of their decisions on the lives of children as we proceed through the current legislative session.
These research findings should be shared with every parent, public school teacher, policy-maker and legislator in Florida and beyond.
3rd Grade Retentions In 2003-2004, across Florida, over 23,000 3rd grade students were retained in accordance with the retention mandate in Florida’s A+ Plan. In some Miami—Dade Public Schools, 50% of third graders were retained.
Did students catch up? In a study of third graders in Southwest Florida, 93% of the retained group in the study remained below a level 3 on the Grade 10 Reading FCAT. In addition, 67% remained at a level one on the Grade 10 Reading FCAT. Further, 41% of the retained students did not graduate with a standard high school diploma.
What did it cost? Between 2003-2013, it cost Florida tax payers approximately $587 million FTE funding for the retained students.
Standard Diploma Acquisition The non-retained group were 14.7% more likely to graduate with a standard diploma than the retained group.
Retention Demographics Approximately 6% of white students were retained while 20% of nonwhite students were retained. Of the students retained in 2003-2004, 69.8% were on free or reduced price lunch.
Significance There was a statistically significant difference between retained students and non- retained students regarding Grade 10 Reading FCAT mean scale scores (.000). There was also a statistically significant difference between ethnicity and Grade 10 Reading FCAT scores (.003).
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How did state-mandated third grade retention policies, under the A+ Plan, impact standard diploma acquisition in retained students as compared to academically similar non-retained students?
✦ Students who were not retained were 14.7% more likely to receive a standard high school diploma. How did the retained group compare to the similar non-retained group on the Grade 10 FCAT Reading?
2. How did the retained group compare to the similar non-retained group on the Grade 10 FCAT Reading?
✦ Both groups had difficulty catching up. In the retained group, 93% remained below proficient into their 10th grade year. In the non-retained group, 85.8% remained below proficient.
3.How did socioeconomic status and ethnicity impact retention rates of certain groups?
✦ Students of color and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to be retained than white students and students who were not from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
4. Based on the data, what was extrapolated, in terms of economic outcomes, when evaluating consequences of students who were unable to acquire a standard high school diploma as a result of the A+ Plan?
✦ The district spent $587 million on FTE for retentions between 2003-2013.
✦ The total difference in combined loss in earnings was approximately $141 million per year.
Summary of the Research In a study of first, third, and sixth graders, researchers asked students to rate a list of 20 stressful life events based on level. Researchers found students, across grade levels, rated the top three stressful life events in this order: losing a parent, going blind, and being retained in school (Anderson, Jimerson, and Whipple 2005; Andrew, 2014). Sixth grade students rated grade retention as the most stressful life event, rating retention more stressful than losing a parent or going blind. (Anderson, Jimerson, and Whipple 2005).
Researchers in other studies found students who were retained faced difficulty in catching up to their peers, achieving academically, and obtaining a high school diploma (Anderson, Jimerson, & Whipple, 2005; Andrew, 2014; Fine & Davis, 2003; Jimerson, 1999; Moser, West & Hughes, 2012; Nagaoka, 2005; and Ou & Reynolds, 2010).
However, in 2003-2004 approximately 23,000 third graders were retained in Florida under the third grade retention mandate outlined in the A+ Plan. This was an effort to increase student achievement by increasing the use of accountability measures.
The current study includes an examination of educational outcomes of students retained in a large southwest Florida school district under the A+ Plan in 2003-2004. Researchers used a match control group, consisting of similarly non-retained students, who scored at level one on the Grade 3 Reading FCAT. The control group was compared to the retained group. Also compared were student achievement levels on the Grade 10 Reading FCAT of the retained and non-retained group. This provided longitudinal data to examine whether or not students who were retained increased their reading achievement over time.
Longitudinal data was evaluated for both the retained and non- retained students. Researchers found 93% of the retained students continued to score below proficiency (below a level 3) seven years after retention on the Grade 10 Reading FCAT as compared with the 85.8% of the non-retained students. See chart below.
Grade 10 Reading FCAT Scores: 7 Years after Retention
Economic Outcomes Economic outcomes were extrapolated using the data from this study and the data from previous economic studies. If the averages used in this study were applied to the 23,348 retained students in 2003-2004, 41% of the 23,348, did not graduate with a standard diploma; approximately 13,730 did not receive a standard high school diploma. These students’ failure to receive a standard diploma resulted in loss of wages. After evaluating the 13,730 who did not receive a standard diploma and using the 2010 U.S. Census employment by education level data, researchers found Florida students earned 33% less than they would have if they had obtained a high school diploma. The total difference in total combined loss in earnings was approximately $141 million per year.
COST: $587 MILLION
RESULT: 93% REMAINED BELOW PROFICIENCY ON THE GRADE 10 READING FCAT.
If you would like to read the executive summary or the full study, click the titles below:
Kathleen Jasper, Ed.D. has been an educator for over 10 years. Starting as a high school classroom teacher (Biology, Reading and English), she later became a curriculum specialist, working on academic plans, professional development and assessment. In 2011, she became an assistant principal at Estero High School in Lee County. She began her doctoral work at that time and resigned from the district to do research and work on policy-making in order to effect greater change in the public school system. Currently, she is an adjunct professor in the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University. She is also the founder and CEO of NavaED, an education consulting company.
Brandy Paternoster is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to make #180DaysCount in school. Her compelling address at the Broward County Public Schools’ Board meeting yesterday, is an indictment of the district’s position and their appeal of Judge Karen Giever’s Court ruling on August 26.
Watch as she holds the Broward County School Board accountable for their failure to do what is right for students (beginning at 0:50):
“This board must learn to start trusting teachers. Give them guidelines and set them free to teach. You have the ability to stop playing games with children’s lives. I urge you to stop supporting the DOE in its endless attempts at stalling the Third Grade lawsuit.”
____________________
Here is a transcript of Brandy’ Paternoster’s address:
“Good afternoon. My name is Brandy Paternoster and these are my 4th grade twins, Dylan and Jadyn. They have attended Manatee Bay Elementary in Weston since the first grade. They passed the 3rd grade last year …according to their teachers and according to their report cards, but the district says they must be retained.
My children met test participation requirement by signing the FSA test booklet and breaking the seal. At no time was I ever notified that either child has a reading deficiency. Two days before school ended, the principal advised us that without a test score, both children did not meet criteria to be promoted to 4th grade. I requested that a portfolio of their school work be compiled to prove proficiency as outlined in state Administrative Code and was told that such a thing does not exist. I demanded that my children be promoted based on their report cards per Florida Statute 1008.25 (6)(b)7.c)1. which clearly states:
“Requests for good cause exemptions for students from the mandatory retention requirement… …shall consist only of the existing PMP, IEP, report card, or student portfolio.”
I was ignored. The principal stated that it was coming down from the district and that without a test score, her hands were tied.
“Let’s get them to 4th grade” she said. “That’s where they should be! Just have them take the SAT-10 test and this can all be resolved!”
I refused any additional testing because test participation requirement had already been met and our children are more than a test score!
As part of the school board’s case against us in the “3rd Grade Retention Lawsuit” the principal filed an affidavit. Here is a quote:
“18. Based on the above information and my numerous years as an educator, I do not believe either student has the reading ability to complete 4th grade material.” -Heather Hedman-DeVaughn, Principal – Manatee Bay Elementary
This is a direct quote from the principal’s sworn statement. Let that sink in. Back in June, all they needed was a test score to promote. Now, all of a sudden, they are not even proficient? You see, in addition to providing the facts and dates and emails and documents as required of her in her affidavit, this “educator” made a choice. Her statement could have read, “Because they did not meet the state requirement…” or “Because they don’t have a test score…” and though I don’t agree with either statement, they would still have supported the districts stance without crossing any lines. But she didn’t. She made a choice. For a test score.
“I do not believe either student has the reading ability to complete 4th grade material.”
She chose to lie. I don’t know if her statement was influenced by her supervisors (I suspect that it was) or if she chose those words all by herself. We may never know, but make no mistake, she made a choice.
Mrs. DeVaughn made a choice to NOT stand up for children who were present in the classroom for 180 days of work, who do not have a reading deficiency and who clearly are on grade level. She chose not to support her teachers, whom she hired, or their ability to teach and grade students effectively and accurately. She chose not to trust in their teaching certificates or their degrees or their most basic moral character. She chose not to back her own school or the systems she has put in place to ensure her wards navigate the education system successfully.
Mrs. DeVaughn chose to support a testing system that is broken and in doing so betrayed it all. Her statement says that her school failed to catch, not one, but two students who supposedly can’t keep up but passed all subjects. It says that her hiring practices failed. It says that two good teachers are incompetent liars. It says that two amazing children are failures.
For a test score.
Mrs. DeVaughn chose to sacrifice 2 children to the gods of “The Test” presumably to garner some unimaginable favor. She chose wrong. And you, as school board members, chose wrong when you decided to appeal Judge Gievers’ ruling. Her ruling untied your hands and gave you the opportunity to say, “Ya know what, we screwed up, but we’re gonna fix it now,” but you didn’t.
I leave you with one final thought.
My tax dollars, your tax dollars are paying for lawyers to fight against children who are clearly proficient, as defined by the letter of the law – to punish me for standing up and saying “NO” to a flawed testing system. Our tax dollars are being used to appeal the judge’s ruling, that was in our favor, that said, “Yes, the FDOE and the Broward County School Board did indeed act unlawfully”; to make an example of us for daring to have a voice and to ensure that no one else will ever be brave enough to do the same.
Let me be clear. I will not go quietly into the night.”
I stand here for our teachers.
I stand here for our children.
They are more than a test score!
Thank you.”
____________________ Sincere thanks to the members of the Broward Teachers Union for supporting Brandy and Trudy by yielding their time so that they could properly address these issues with the Broward Board.
____________________
The plaintiff families are fighting to hold the FLDOE and school districts accountable to the PUBLIC. They are fighting for all children in Florida public schools.