Since Ms. Wardle removed the incident from her blog about the child to which I refer in my original letter, I have revised my letter to Ms. Wardle to an essay form and have posted it below.
Since I am one of those crazy parents who “opted out” my
children from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test this
spring, I thought I would share with you my reasoning.
I have spent the past several months researching the Common
Core State Standards. I have attended
every meeting the school district and White Pine School have offered with
regard to Common Core (with the exception of the SBAC practice night, but I had
already viewed the sample tests online).
I have attended two meetings sponsored by the Tea Party, and although I
am not affiliated with that group, I was curious about what their featured
speakers had to say. I have spent
countless hours online reading op-eds, teachers’ blogs, and information from
the Idaho State Department of Education. I have obtained copies of the Idaho
Core Standards from our school district and looked through them. I watched the Idaho Legislature Forum held in
January. By no means do I consider
myself an expert in these standards, but I have wanted to learn as much as I
can to form an educated opinion for myself.
I have many concerns with the origin and funding of the Common Core State
Standards, but will limit my comments at this time to the SBAC.
You might ask why I would opt out? I will list several reasons:
One concern I have is the use of a technique called “close
reading.” For those unfamiliar with
this technique, the student is given “prompt(s)” or paragraph(s) of information
in the test and must use only the information in the prompts for the required
written portion. This might mean that
students will read information with which they don’t agree, or find morally or
politically offensive and have to defend it because that is what was given in
the prompt. For example, a student in
Utah (Utah uses the SAGE test, comparable to the SBAC) was so amazed at a
series of prompts on her given test and subsequent writing exam, that she used
her phone to photograph the computer screen.
The subject of the prompts: why
playing video games is better than reading books. (Students will probably have
to check their phones/iPods at the door now).
Although this student was taking a different type of test, I use this
example to illustrate my concerns with what prompts could be on the test. A local
student was asked this year on the SBAC to write a paragraph about “why she
didn’t like Greek yogurt.” But she
happens to like Greek yogurt. How would a student be scored if they disagreed
with a prompt such as this and wrote a paragraph about why Greek yogurt was
great? Some may argue that defending a position with which you don’t agree is
good for you; it’s no different than what is required in debate club. But what effect does that have on young minds
that are developing morals and values? Moreover,
nowhere in life does one defend an opposing point of view but in debate club
and the court room. It is a skill that
should be developed after a student is fundamentally grounded.
Another concern I have about the SBAC is lack of
transparency. Before opting my students
out, I asked if I could sit with my students and look over the tests as they
took them. Of course this was
refused. I know there are sample tests
available, but I wanted to see the actual exam since so many rumors had been circulating
about inappropriate or data-seeking questions being asked. And of course those types of questions would
not appear on a sample test. On the “SBAC
Fact vs. Fiction” page linked from the State Department of Education, the
following statement is listed as fiction:
“These tests will result in the collection of intrusive and
inappropriate data on children.” And
here is the listed fact. “States will
make all policy decisions with regard to the collection, storage, and use of
student assessment data. Smarter
Balanced will adhere to all federal and state privacy laws, including but not
limited to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Consortium will not share identifiable
student level data with the federal government.
The Higher Education Opportunity ACT (HEOA) of 2008, NO Child Left
Behind (NCLB) legislation amending the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
the Education Reform Sciences Act of 2002, and the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) all prohibit the creation of a federal
database with students’ personally identifiable information.” So I can feel good knowing the federal
government is legally prevented from gathering and collecting personally
identifying information about my children.
The state may collect it, the SBAC may have it, but at least the federal
government can’t collect it. But do they
have access to it? And nowhere in this
paragraph does it address whether or not “intrusive and inappropriate data”
will be collected through the SBAC. This
is concerning to me!
Which leads to my
next concern: What if there is a
question a student finds offensive or inappropriate? Senator Steven Thayn of Emmett wrote a letter
to Tom Luna’s office, the State Board of Education, Governor Otter, and the
House and Senate Education Committees and committee members, released January
14, 2014. He listed several concerns
with the SBAC, one being that “The Idaho State Department of Education is not
able to guarantee that pornographic passages or agenda-driven questions will
not be on the SBAC.” When a local
student expressed concern to her teacher that there might be pornographic
material on the test, the teacher wrote on her personal blog that she “wouldn’t
approve of a test given to your child where just anything can happen.” You have no control! I wish you did! Teachers and administrators aren’t even
allowed to look at the computer screens during the testing periods. After realizing the child had overheard her
parent’s discussing Senator Thayn’s letter and misunderstood the conversation,
the childs concerns were resolved. In
reality, the parents weren’t concerned about pornography popping up during the
test. The parents were discussing the
possibility of there being questions considered pornographic in nature ON the
test. The Bluest Eye by Toni
Morrison is an approved text for the Idaho Core Standards in high school ELA
curriculum. It is a book about child
pedophilia, among other things, and I quote a reader’s review: “… I felt dirty after
reading it and certainly cannot recommend it to anyone but particularly not to
impressionable 11th graders. I am left
asking this one question - What are our schools’ administrators thinking about
forcing this garbage on to our kids?”
I have been assured by district staff that this book has not been
approved for our district. But because
it is approved literature for the Common Core State Standards, is it not
possible that students could be forced to read prompts from this book on the
SBAC? This is also seems to be a concern
with Senator Thayn, as he stated above that there is no guarantee that these types
of things won’t be on the SBAC.
Because Idaho is in a
consortium with 20 other states, making changes to the SBAC is very
difficult. This is where I feel we have
lost control of education in Idaho. Is
there not a better way to test our students where we have more say as educators
and parents? Can’t we rewrite the ISAT
to comply with Common Core Standards if we’re determined to keep them? If our state’s teachers and schools are going
to be rated and/or paid according to test scores, I feel we as a state should
have more control of that testing than to be in a consortium held hostage to
the majority. Which leads to another
question: is it right to rate schools
and determine teachers’ pay on the SBAC?
Travis Manning, executive director of the Common Sense Democracy
Foundation of Idaho and a current high school English teacher explains, “We
have become a nation infatuated with standardized testing and, in the process,
have given private testing companies the onus for unnecessarily labeling schools,
children, and teachers.”(By the way, Manning chose not to have his young
children take the SBAC). Is the SBAC the
best method for proving our teachers and students? These questions should lead
to an additional discussion about the pressure we are putting on our students,
staff, and administration with high-stakes testing. One would argue that I allow my students to
take the SAT (and I will include ACT).
That is true, but that is not taken until the students are in high
school. The SBAC begins in 3rd grade through high school. Why does
the SBAC have to be given to all these listed grades every year? Multiple hours
are spent testing that could be used for classroom instruction. Does 7-8 hours
of testing preceded by weeks of preparation, worry, and anticipation for the
“test,” not to mention the pressure to perform well contribute to a love of
learning? Does it benefit the child
whatsoever?
Opting out was a way for me to show the school, district, and
state that I do not agree with this test.
I didn’t opt my kids out of the ISAT. I reasoned that I took the Iowa
Basics test; it was now my kids turn to be tested. But I am realizing now I
should have been more aware and involved. Parents are ultimately responsible for the
education of their children. One of the
best things I have seen about the implementation of Common Core standards is
that parents are finally waking up to their kids’ educations. They are asking (or should be asking)
questions and seeking answers more than any other time. We often accept things blindly without really
understanding or questioning our State Department of Education and the
involvement of the Federal Government in education. I have been guilty of that for years, and
have recently had a wakeup call. I
encourage parents and teachers to ask questions and get informed. Following one of the meetings where I asked
several questions about Common Core, a district teacher approached me and said,
“Your questions about Common Core are valid.
Keep digging.” I hope we can have
open conversations about these issues.
Opting my children out of the SBAC does not mean I am opting
them out of life. My children do hard
things. Anyone who knows me or my family
knows my children know how to work hard.
We expect a lot from our children.
More than anything, I want them to be “critical thinkers.” Is Common Core the best vehicle for promoting
that? That is another discussion we need
to have. I believe an essential part of thinking
critically is to assess a situation, seeking all the information you can
gather, and then take a stand. In opting
my children out, I stand for what I believe to be right. I don’t judge those who didn’t opt out. I don’t feel like I’m a better mother than
you because I did and you didn’t. I’m
just doing what I feel is right. It’s
hard to feel like the heretic. I have
served as the PTO president of my son’s school for two years and have donated
hundreds of hours serving in my children’s schools. I don’t want to be labeled as the weird,
psycho, paranoid mom that I’m sure I am.
But I can’t ignore the feelings in my heart.
I appreciate the concern teachers have for the students in
their classroom. I know you grow to love
them and want what is best for them. But
nobody loves my children more than I do as their mother. The primary reason I opted my kids out of
SBAC this year? The gnawing feeling of
concern inside me that wouldn’t go away.
Until I can have answers to my questions, my students will not take the
SBAC. I have been told I will not be
able to “opt-out” next year. But I do
have the right to refuse to let my
children take it. The United States Supreme Court has historically protected parents’
rights (Pierce V. Society of Sisters). I
will continue to gather information.
Hopefully my concerns will be resolved, but until I feel differently, I
cannot ignore these questions.
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