Anti-test parents are opting children out of opportunity

Oregonian OpEd by Oregon Business Association, Education Policy Chair Kathy Swift
By Kathy Swift
Almost every state in the country, including Oregon, has adopted higher
standards for what students need to know and be able to do as they move
through school. With tougher educational standards came tougher tests to
measure students progress. These end-of-year tests in English and math
called Smarter Balanced have been a source of contention and
confusion amongst Oregon parents and community members since the
testing window opened this spring.
This confusion has sparked an opt-out movement, where parents are
refusing to allow their children to take these tests. By doing so, they
deprive themselves of valuable information about their child. On a larger
scale, the tests serve a greater purpose: to gauge the health of Oregons
educational systems. When parents opt students out of the test,
educational leaders and policy makers have less reliable information to
improve services and target resources and supports to kids.

21 Oregon districts, ranging from small to huge,

miss targets for Smarter Balanced test participation
By Laura Frazier | The Oregonian/OregonLive

SMARTER BALANCED TESTS

Up to 53 percent of Washington juniors skipped Common Core tests, early counts show

Roughly 1 in 7 Portland Public Schools juniors skip Common Core tests

Movement to opt out of Common Core testing gains steam, especially in Portland

5 percent of Portland Public Schools students opt out of Common Core tests

Lake Oswego High student union campaigns for peers to opt out of Common Core tests

Twenty-one Oregon districts ranging from

small to the State's largest failed to meet
federal testing targets for Smarter Balanced
assessments, according to state data.
The launch of new Common Core aligned
assessments last school year sparked opt-out
movements across the country. States are
required to test at least 95 percent of students
overall and in every group, such as low-income
students and English Language Learners, to
fit the No Child Behind law and receive
federal education dollars.

or addressed low rates at specific schools or

districts.
The department has not made any decisions in
relation to Oregon's latest participation rates,
said Press Secretary Dorie Turner Nolt.
"We have made no decisions, and as we have
said many times, continue to look to states to
ensure districts and schools are meeting the
law," she said.

In New York, more than 200,000 students, or

20 percent of those set for exams, sat out
testing, according to the New York Times. And
in Washington, preliminary figures show
that up to 53 percent of juniors skipped
exams though the state hit targets in other
grades.

Oregon districts that missed participation

targets in at least one subject range from
small, rural areas to the state's largest. For
example, in Gaston, near Forest Grove, 340
students were scheduled to take exams and
about 92 percent did. And out of the
approximately 25,100 students set to test
in Portland Public Schools, roughly 87
percent took assessments.

Oregon is also noting lower participation rates

than previous years. Students take rigorous
Smarter Balanced tests, which replaced the
Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
starting during the 2014-2015 school year, in
grades three to eight and 11 in English
language arts and math.

Upwards of a quarter of students at some

schools refused to test, according to Portland
Public Schools figures. Portland community
members had at times visibly advocated
against the test-- the district's union passed
a resolution this winter and a local opt out
committee formed last year.

Rates fell below 95 percent in at least one

subject area for 21 Oregon districts and youth
corrections and detention programs, according
to the Oregon Department of Education. In
2013-2014, only two districts missed the mark
in a subject area and none fell below subject
targets the year prior.

"I think we see this kind of concern anytime

there is a new test that is being rolled out, "
said Joe Suggs, the district's assessment lead.
"It's possible that the opt out numbers will
decline. Obviously we won't that know until we
are into testing again."

(See chart below)

Oregon's schools chief Salam Noor told
superintendents and principals in an email
that $344 million in funding could be at risk.
This year about 95 percent of Oregon students
took the tests but rates for African American
students and students with special needs
dropped to 93 percent.
The U.S. Department of Education said in a
statement that the department has not yet had
to withhold funding due to participation
requirements because states either fit the law

The state plans to work with districts to

communicate why test data is valuable, said
spokeswoman Crystal Greene. Test scores
allow districts and the state to accurately
evaluate which schools and student groups are
doing well and who needs more help.
Opt-out advocates in the Portland area have
shared concerns with the amount of time each
test requires and the initial predication that
many students would fail, among other red
flags.
In some cases, students took the lead. A
student union founded at Lake Oswego

High led to 234 exemptions, which made up 88

percent of the total number of district opt-outs,
said spokeswoman Nancy Duin. Overall 92
percent of Lake Oswego School
District students took tests.

Sheryl Lipski, director of Teaching and

Learning for Canby schools, said new
Smarter Balanced tests may have caused
confusion for parents. About 91 percent of
Canby's roughly 2,500 test-takers participated.

At Eugene School District, the state's

seventh largest, 89 percent of those eligible for
tests took them. About 500 students turned in
formal requests to opt out of the test though
the number of students who actually skipped
could be higher, said district spokeswoman
Kerry Delf. Avoiding the test could be
especially problematic for high school students
who are yet meet graduation requirements, she
said.

"The goal of the district is just to make sure

that parents can make an informed decision,"
she said. "We just need to do a better job of
really letting them know the different kinds of
assessments that we do and how they inform
our practice."

"As we continue forward, we don't know what

the new year will bring," Delf said. "We
continue to try to have thorough and consistent
participation in all required areas, such as
testing."
District

Additional test participation data and scores for

Oregon schools, districts, and other student
categories will be released Sept. 17 along with
final test score results. Preliminary figures
showed students performed better than
expected.

# of students eligible to test English rate Math rate Combined rate

McKenzie

121

99.2

93.4

96.3

Knappa

264

96.2

93.6

94.9

Gladstone

1111

94.1

94.8

94.4

Mapleton

90

95.6

93.3

94.4

Willamina

431

94.2

94.0

94.1

Estacada

1306, English, 1305 Math

93.6

93.2

93.4

Gaston

340

92.6

92.1

92.4

Lake Oswego

3831

92.4

92.1

92.3

Canby

2478

92.7

90.0

91.4

Perrydale

178 English, 179 Math

98.3

84.4

91.3

Douglas County

96

89.6

90.6

90.1

Alsea

88

90.9

87.5

89.2

Eugene

8880 English, 8881 Math

90.1

88.2

89.1

Amity

483

88.8

85.9

87.4

Portland

25136

87.4

86.1

86.8

Scio

2496

82.9

81.9

82.4

St. Paul

145

82.8

82.1

82.4

Hood River County

2154

82.7

81.8

82.3

Elkton

223

78.5

78.0

78.3

Frenchglen

76

75.0

73.7

74.3

Jordan Valley

40

60.0

57.5

58.8

*Note: Rates represent the percentage of eligible students that took tests. Numbers for Scio include students
enrolled in Oregon Connections Academy.
--Laura Frazier
lfrazier@oregonian.com
503-294-4035