The Casper Star Tribune reported on October 10th that the Wyoming attorney general decided that students could not opt out of statewide assessments, as was previously thought.
They reported that the attorney general’s decision was based on the fact that the state board of education requires a system that provides valid information about every district and was asked to build an accountability system. This mandate is an effect of the Accountability in Education Act of 2011.
This requirement makes it so that all students have to participate in the statewide assessments. The statements extended to say that parents are not able to allow students to opt out of these tests. The results of these tests are to have an effect on the schools administering the tests.
Debbie Pinney Fisher, principal of Laramie Junior High, says that student opt outs have not been a major issue. Even in her past principal position in California she only experienced two cases of state assessment opt out. She said that opt outs in California were not very seriously scrutinized and that medical excuses were typically the only reason students would opt out. Fisher fears that this might create competition between teachers if testing results heavily affects funding in the state.
“I think that there is a place for it, it allows us to know where we are in comparison to other schools,” said Fisher, “but you can’t measure a kid in just one test. We shouldn’t just use the test score to assess how well a kid is doing. The standards are already pretty rigorous and I like that, the real danger is that teachers might start teaching to the test for the funding incentive. My most major concern is that this might cause us to miss teaching opportunities.”
Fisher says that the option to opt out of a test should still ultimately be the decision of the child and their family.
Molly Martin, a special education teacher in the Albany County District, explains that monitoring the growth of the kids is the most important aspect of testing. Martin is afraid that if the funding is affected that it might not be the fault of the school. Similar to Fisher she believes that one test is a bad way to measure a child’s ability. Martin is afraid that teachers could feel pressure to adhere to the testing standards and not be as focused on educating kids.
“As an educator I think that you have to respect the parents’ opinion above all,” Martin said, “While I think state testing is a good thing, it could also become a really bad thing, above all we, teachers and parent, need to work together to insure the success of the student.”
