Many parents and students are standing up against state assessments. Thousands of students in grades 3rd through 8th are expect to opt out of standardized testing statewide today. But WBFO'S Focus on Education reporter Eileen Buckley says one school leader is urging parents to make sure their children take the tests.
"My recommendations to parents is -- these tests are important," said Interim Buffalo Schools Superintendent Don Ogilvie.
Many parents plan to have their child opt out of the English Language Arts exam that starts Tuesday. But Ogilvie said the tests are designed to measure overall improvement in classes, schools and districts.
"We can argue about their intended use or purpose, but they are created and imbedded in regulation and federal law," stated Ogilvie.
Ogilive said he can not recommend that a city school student opt out.
The State Education Department continues encouraging parents that testing is critical and there could be funding consequences, but so no action has been taken.
State Assemblyman Ray Walters of Williamsville strongly supports opt out. He said his 8th grade son won't be taking the standardized tests.
"There's never been one instance, across the country, of a school district penalized for people opting out of a test, and what this is going to do is, focus hopefully, the government and the Board of Regents on what is the best way to evaluate our teachers and students without using these standardized test," said Walters.
But for teachers these tests cause a great deal of stress for their evaluations. That's something interim leader Ogivlie says remains a difficult issue.
"The state, through regulation, has chose to use state test results to create approximately 20 and up to 40% of a teachers evaluation, and that's where one of the issues comes in," noted Ogilvie.
SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher wrote a blog post titled 'Opting Out of Our Future'. Zimpher encouraged students not to opt out saying standardized tests have become a pawn in political debates about teacher evaluation. Zimpher notes the tests are a way to measure what students know and diagnose where educators need to improve teaching and learning.
The following is the full text of Zimpher's statement:
“When it comes to whether students should opt out of standardized testing, no one is actually talking about what’s best for our kids. Standardized tests have become a pawn in political debates about teacher evaluations and we have lost sight of what they are: a way to measure what students know so we can help them improve,” Chancellor Zimpher writes.
“If we are truly trying to do “what’s best for kids,” we would use standardized test scores to diagnose where we need to improve teaching and learning so that kids come to college ready to succeed. We need those results to support students, whether with early intervention when they are falling behind or to guide them toward advanced coursework when they are ahead of the curve. If kids opt out, we risk them being left behind.”
