Battle Heating Up Over New K-12 Standardized Tests in RI
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
A battle is brewing in Rhode Island over new standardized K-12 tests, with a growing number of students and families choosing to "opt-out" and not take them, and education stakeholders are split on the importance -- and future -- of the assessment tool.
The new PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) tests have begun this week in Rhode Island, replacing the NECAP tests which had been used in the state for the last 9 years.
"I posted yesterday a short piece by the eminent education researcher Gene V.Glass, who said that it would not take large numbers of opt outs to disrupt the testing machinery," said former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and historian Diane Ravitch. "Even 10%, he said, would invalidate the tests for its main uses."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTJean Lehane is a parent and organizer in Rhode Island of the group "Stop the Common Core" on Facebook, and is opposed to the PARCC test.
"[We are] very hopeful that the state of Rhode Island will not only change approach but very much hoping they will abandon the PARCC tests as 12 states (2 more pending - out of a total 24) have done," said Lehane. "We are not adverse to assessments. It's just we would rather have assessments done by our children's own teachers in their own classrooms."
Lehane further explained her opposition to the PARCC test.
"This test is neither valid or reliable and it seeks to rank and sort children. Our children are now referred to as "human capital" to these "reformers". Also, the time spent teaching to the test is being done far too much. Copious amounts of data are also taken from our children which will follow them through high school and college. With the change in the FERPA laws in 2008 and 2011, third parties can have access to this data without parental consent. Another concern for parents right there! Lastly, teachers are being evaluated on the scores of the tests which is highly unfair because all children test differently," said Lehane. "It's just a mess all around!"
Department of Education, District Roles
The Rhode Island Department of Education, which offers an overview of the PARCC assessment on its website, including "Ten Things to Know About PARCC," said that while it expected all students take part, it could not mandate it.
"RIDE fully expects that all eligible students will participate in state assessments, which are an integral part of the process of education in Rhode Island public schools. There is no formal procedure for parents to remove their children from participation in any school activity – including state assessments," said RIDE Spokesperson Elliot Krieger. "RIDE will not recognize any attempt to refuse participation in the state assessment, but we also understand that it is not possible to compel a student to actually participate in taking any exam (or in any school activity)."
"Any students not approved for non-testing who do not participate in PARCC assessments will count against school, district, and state participation rates," continued Krieger. "We will count as nonparticipants (rather than participants with a score of zero) any students who make no effort to take PARCC assessments, including those who attend a testing session."
Tim Ryan, Executive Director of the RI Association of School Superintendents, noted that their position was in support of the PARCC test, but similarly acknowledged the inability to stop any opt-outs.
"Our position is the assessment is important for seeing if we're doing our job, academically holding our kids accountable for their learning. They're an important baseline, to see are we accomplishing what we're setting out to do," said Ryan, who pointed out that the tests were not slated for use for graduation requirements in the near future. "It's also our position we consider the use that as a part of graduation requirements until we're sure it's measuring curriculum appropriately. Don't forget, it took Massachusetts years to make their MCAS a graduation requirement. Nothing could happen overnight."
While RIDE and the superintendents association hedged against prohibiting opt-outs, education advocacy group RI-CAN's Executive Director Christine Metcalf Lopes cautioned as to what a critical mass not taking the test could mean.
"I believe parents are opting their children out of the assessment for a variety of reasons. If only a handful of students opt out, there is likely to be minimal impact on district results," said Lopes. "However, if a growing number of students choose not to take the assessment it may not only impact district results but also impede our ability to truly compare results across Rhode Island and possibly among the participating states around the country. Reliable and accurate test results are necessary for teachers and school leaders to identify areas of need and to effectively serve our students."
Rally Garners National Attention
On Monday, students held a rally at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing Arts in Pawtucket, alleging teacher Bill Ashton had been unfairly suspended last week for discussing with students what would happen to the school -- or not-- if students opted out of taking the test.
Junior Maggie Roberts, who helped organize the rally, spoke to the situation at Walsh -- which had garnered the attention of Ravitch on Sunday.
"From what we know [he] was suspended for clearing up rumors that we would be lose funding and our school would close. He wasn't telling us that we could opt out because we already knew this from students," said Roberts. Pawtucket superintendent Patty DiCenso did not respond to request for comment on Monday.
"They're saying this is just the test run, but this kind of standardized test isn't a good thing," said Roberts. "They're spending so much time prepping us for it."
Frank Flynn with the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals said he couldn't speak specifically to the disciplinary matter at this time, but Flynn did express his concerns with the PARCC test.
"I think parents should have a right to opt out if they so choose," said Flynn. "There should be standards, and there's a place for standardized testing, and it can give us some indications for performance with respect to schools. We have problems, however, with how they might use that information, for graduation, personnel decisions. There's very little known and they're moving forward quickly and we don't know the schools are necessarily prepared. "
Parent, Educator Concerns
Donison Allen, a parent and former Burrillville School Committee member, said that the believed that in Burrillville, the number of students opting out is higher than what has been reported.
"It's been reported that 13% of all students are not taking the test, that is true but the number as a percentage of the students that are supposed to take the test puts it well over 20%," said Allen. "At the time of the school committee meeting [last] Tuesday there were 1504 students eligible to take the test. 294 had refused. That is just shy of 20% of eligible students. I understand that the number is much higher now and may have exceeded 25%."
Allen pointed to a number of reasons for why he does not support the PARCC test, and referenced what he said was another state's experience.
"70% of students that took the PARCC last year in New York failed," said Allen. "Part of the problem is that the pass/fail rate is determined after the test is administered; not before."
Former Assistant Secretary Ravitch explained her case for opposing PARCC testing, which is meant to be aligned with Common Core State Standards.
"The problem with the Common Core tests is that they have zero diagnostic value. The tests are given in the spring, and the scores come back in August or September, when students have a new teacher. The teachers are not allowed to know what students got wrong. All they get are the scores. That means that the tests cannot provide information about what students need," said Ravitch. "This is like going to a doctor with a sharp pain in your stomach, he gives you tests, and says he will get the results in 4-6 months. When the results are returned to you, assuming you have not died in the meanwhile, he will tell you how you compare to students in your state and across the nation, but he won't give you give you medicine or treat you, just give you the scores."
"The best method of student assessments is tests written by teachers. They know what they taught, and they should test what they taught," continued Ravitch. "The state could supplement this by reviewing data from NAEP, the federal test, which reports scores every two years by race, gender, ELL, disability, and achievement gaps."
"Stop the Common Core" organizer Lehane mentioned an upcoming event for people interested in learning more about the Common Core, from a national expert.
"Dr. Peg Luksik will be coming to the Knights of Columbus Council in Middletown in April 11 at 6:30," said Lehane. "I encourage people to come hear what she has to say about PARCC testing."
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