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:
The executive order signed by Florida’s Commissioner of Education on April 9 waives all FSA requirements for this year and grants districts great flexibility to promote third graders by means other than a test. And yet, some schools are still telling parents of remote third grade students, who have NO documented reading deficiency, that if they don’t send their proficient third graders in to school to take an in-person assessment, they’re going to be retained in the third grade.
Are school districts REALLY prepared to retain proficient third grade students with NO reading deficiency THIS YEAR? – under an executive order?
Parents – Is your school district just testing YOU now? The new parenting stamina test?
If parents have kept a child at home all year because of considerable health risks to the family during the pandemic, AND the school wants the child to take a test in person to prove what the state is not even requiring, then the parents must decide how much of a health risk they are willing to accommodate just to appease the school.
The state is not requiring that third grade students complete a test to demonstrate that they should be promoted. The order is clear. It ALSO permits “OTHER MEANS, reasonably calculated to provide reliable evidence of a student’s performance.
FACT: The Commissioner has said he would LIKE all students to test, but the executive order does not say THAT.
It bears repeating: The state is NOT REQUIRING a good cause exemption this year.
the good cause exemption process provided in s. 1008.25, Fla. Stat.,OR OTHER MEANS, reasonably calculated to provide reliable evidence of a student’s performance.
FLDOE – April 9, 2021
At last check, OR still means one or the other. Either. Not both.
When a school threatens harm to a child in order to force parents into compliance with their demands, we call that emotional blackmail. It’s bullying, it needs to STOP and YOU can stop it by shining a light on it.
Districts have publicly repeated the FLDOE’s position on “treating families with grace and compassion.” If the districts are saying one thing, but the schools are doing another, then parents need to ask the district to clarify their position to the schools.
Here’s a letter to district leadership to help you do that:
Dear Superintendent_______________,
We have kept our child at home all school year because of health concerns during the pandemic. I am being told by my son’s school that if he does not come into school for an in-person assessment to satisfy a good cause exemption, then he will be retained in the third grade.
“II. Promotion and Retention Decisions Third grade promotion. Notwithstanding the requirements found in s. 1008.25(5), Fla. Stat., a student may be promoted to grade four, regardless of the absence of an English Language Arts (ELA) assessment score or the absence of a Level 2 or higher ELA score, if the district is able to determine that a student is performing at least at Level 2 on the ELA assessment through the good cause exemption process provided in s. 1008.25, Fla. Stat., or other meansreasonably calculated to provide reliable evidence of a student’s performance.”
I am respectfully requesting that the “other means” specified in the executive order be (name’s) grades, which he earned throughout the school year and his report card, which, together, are “reasonably calculated to provide reliable evidence of a student’s performance.”
With the flexibility granted to districts by the state because of the pandemic, and in the absence of a test performed in person – are you prepared to retain a proficient student; to force him to repeat the third grade needlessly, in spite of his demonstrating that he has NO reading deficiency?
Retention does not mean that the child has failed. It does not mean that teachers or parents are not working hard enough. It does mean that the child needs more instructional time and help to catch up and meet grade 3 reading performance levels. The purpose of retention is to give children who have substantial reading deficiencies more time and the intensive instruction they need to catch up in reading.
(Name) has demonstrated that he does not have a reading deficiency and is a proficient reader who performs consistently at a level documented to be above average.
Please be advised that (Name) will not be coming into school to take an in-person assessment, merely for a test score that is not required, per the executive order.
Should the school persist in demanding an in-person assessment, I am prepared to withdraw him from school before the end of the school year and register him as a homeschool student, get his portfolio certified for promotion to the fourth grade by a certified teacher and re-enroll him into the fourth grade after summer.
Please advise further. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
IMPORTANT Remember to CC all school board members, the principal AND your local education reporter. __________________
NOTES ON FOLLOWING UP Be aware that when you send your email, you may receive a reply email – OR a phone call. You may be told things that a district may not want documented. YOU NEED IT DOCUMENTED – such as “that your child will be retained if they don’t take the FSA.” It is important to document all communications with the school. Phone calls are fine. Just be prepared to take notes.
THEN – send an email stating what was discussed over the phone and ask for confirmation of your understanding: ___________________ This is to confirm our conversation on (date).
You stated: 1. 2. 3.
Please reply to confirm. Thank you for your kind assistance.
Sincerely,
___________________
If they won’t confirm it in writing, IT. DIDN’T. HAPPEN.
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.
When a third grade student in Florida fails the FSA, or opts out of the FSA, they will need a Good Cause Exemption to be promoted to the fourth grade. Parents will need to work with their child’s school to make that happen. The Alternative Assessments allowed by the State for a Good Cause Exemption can be another test, but it can also be a portfolio; a TRUE portfolio, not a battery of secret mini-tests from Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform.
Kevin Foster is a Lake County father and Administrator forOpt Out Lake County, who opts his child out of the FSA. As a result of advocating for Lake County to include a true portfolio in the district’s Student Progression Plan (SPP), the Lake County SPP now includes language (just one phrase) that supports the use of a true portfolio, for a Good Cause Exemption. A TRUE portfolio is a collection of your child’s work throughout the school year.
Some districts already include this language in their SPP, but some do not. Some districts, which have true portfolio language (which comes directly from Florida Statute) in their SPP, do not comply with that SPP. Only parents can hold their feet to the fire.
Here’s what Kevin shared:
After several unproductive meetings with various Lake County School District administrative officials, my wife and I were invited by Superintendent Kornegay to sit down for a discussion regarding the Portfolio option as a Good Cause Exemption from 3rd Grade Mandatory Retention. We discussed a wide range of topics including participating, but minimally, in the FSA, DOE Rule 6A-1.094221, and the results of the (then recently decided) lawsuit by 3rd Grade parents against the State and several school districts.
We explained our view that opting out, or minimal participation (signing the test and pushing it away without answering any questions), satisfied the statutory requirement that all students participate in FSA testing.
We also pointed out that there was a key part ofRule 6A-1.094221that was seemingly being ignored by everyone, which stated that, “chapter and unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum could be used as part of the portfolio.”
We also explained our view, that it was a waste of precious instructional time to remove a child from the classroom in order to give them a battery of mini-tests from Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform.
And, we pointed out that the (then) recent Appeals Court ruling against parents answered a key question about who has the final say on promotion to 4th grade. The Court said it was the Superintendent (not the FLDOE). We explained that this meant that the process was intended to be a bottom-up thing, rather than a top-down thing, and that teachers and principals should be allowed to make a recommendation for promotion if they believe the student deserves to be promoted.
At the end of that meeting, Supt. Kornegay asked me directly, “What do you want me to do?”
I replied, “I want you to put this specific language about the portfolio from FLDOE Rule 6A-1.094221 into the Lake County 3rd Grade Progression Plan.”
It said (referring to the portfolio Good Cause Exemption), “Such evidence could be selected from… chapter and unit tests from the district’s/schools’s adopted core reading curriculum.” This may seem like a small thing, but it’s not.
The very next time that the Progression Plan was up for a vote before the School Board, that language was included in the draft version, and the Board voted to approve it. It’s been there ever since. (You can find it on Page 36 of the Lake County Progression Plan which can be downloadedhere.
Well… the Chapter and Unit Tests are the work that your child does throughout the school year. It’s a true portfolio. If your child does well on those chapter and unit tests throughout the year, there should be no (or very little) need to remove them from class to create a portfolio based on the Florida Item Bank and Test Platform. Some of those Item Bank mini-tests may still be necessary in order to round out your child’s portfolio if they don’t have all 3 examples of each of the 22 standards. (Also, keep in mind that they must score at least a 70 for each of those to count as a valid example.)
What if your school insists that they will not start a portfolio for your child until AFTER the FSA has been administered?
As I see it, you have two options. You can either educate yourself about the standards and attempt to collect the portfolio items yourself as they come home from school with your child, or… you could lean on this specific note from the top of Page 37 in the Progression Plan. It’s also in the FLDOE TAP with Rule 6A-1.094221 and Florida Statute cited.
“Note: A parent of a student in grade 3 who is identified anytime during the year as being at risk of retention may request that the school immediately begin the portfolio assessment process.”
If you write a letter to your school principal announcing your intention to opt-out/minimally participate in the FSA, that act alone should immediately “identify” your child as “being at risk of retention,” since retention is mandatory without a passing grade on the FSA. I cannot guarantee that this part of the process will work, but if you think about it, it makes a certain amount of sense. Be prepared to fight for that “at risk” identification.
If your child’s teacher agrees to develop a portfolio, you should request to examine it from time to time to make sure it’s being maintained. Parents in other districts have been told that a portfolio would be developed, only to find at the end of the year that it was not. You do not want to get to the end of the year and not have that portfolio documenting your child’s proficiency of the standards.
You should also be prepared to compile the portfolio yourself. If you find yourself in this position, you’ll need to make sure that every “chapter and unit test” which is graded gets sent home to you for your collection. Every one of those “chapter and unit tests” should include a notation regarding which standards are being assessed. Note also that a single question may provide for more than one example, and for more than one standard. (Remember, 3 examples of each of the 22 standards are required.) The sooner you get started compiling the portfolio, the better.
One final reminder: I cannot guarantee that this will work. But, it is the process that I envisioned when I asked Supt. Kornegay to add that specific language to our progression plan.
Remember that opting out is an act of civil disobedience intended to challenge/change the current system. It requires courage and tenacity, but…. if successful, you will have blazed a trail for others to follow.
Good luck. ___________
“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.” (Section 1008.25(5)(c)6, F.S.)
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.
We’re not going to get into the difference between a paper-based test (PBT) and a computer-based test (CBT) here, except to say that if parents have made the decision to opt out, they should know that opting out of one is different from opting out of the other. You’ll need to know which your child will have so you can help your child to opt out successfully. It’s not complicated, but there is a difference.
This schedule will show if your child will have a PBT or a CBT.
Will my child have a Paper-Based Test or a Computer-Based Test?
To understand the difference in how to opt out of one or the other, it’s simple – GO TO THE OPT OUT GUIDE. It’s all there!
To see how to opt out of a computer-based test, watch with your kids how Sammy does it… fearlessly!
You will be told that there is no opt out. They’re right. There is no provision for opting out in Florida. We do it anyway. And HAVE since 2012.
MANY thousands of families have chosen to opt out of Florida’s high stakes standardized testing.
Many students DO NOT or HAVE NEVER take the FSA or FCAT and have been or continue to be successfully promoted through graduation, without incident.
More students have been harmed by a low FSA score than by having NO FSA score.
When you opt out, you say to your school district and to your state legislature:
I value the professional autonomy, creativity and expertise of my child’s teacher to appropriately assess my child’s learning over what any one test can tell me about what my child needs, on a single day.
If we allow our children to complete these tests, we would be saying, instead, “I consent to what the tests stand for and how they are used.” Do you consent?
Testing is the steamroller and data is the fuel. Do the one thing you have the power to do. When you opt out, you deny the data, with which the state reduces your child’s 180 days in school each year to a single test score.
Deny them this data. Tell them with your protest that your child is more than a score.
Find your own connection to the bigger picture. This IS about your child. But it is not JUST about your child. It is also about our teachers, our schools and our communities. Incessant testing diminishes your child’s love of learning, love of school and turns our teachers into taskmasters. It is mind-numbing drudgery. It is not a measure of learning. It is an attack on learning. It makes kids hate school. It has exacerbated the teacher shortage.
We can stand in defiance for all children, teachers and schools and begin to take them back from those who would destroy public education in order to profit from the forced failures, which have ushered in the privatization of our public schools, in the name of so-called “education reform.”
Any act of civil disobedience may involve risks and potentially unknown consequences. Opting out of standardized tests is no different. We will never guarantee that you will receive no pushback or consequences to your standing up in protest.
We will never promise anything, except this… If you do nothing, nothing will change.