Evidence. Opting Out | FairTest. “Opting out” of testing is a potentially powerful way to resist No Child Left Behind and the way standardized testing distorts and corrupts K-12 classrooms. Growing numbers of parents and students are questioning the value of NCLB testing and saying they want to exercise the right to opt out. In recent months, a number of Facebook and wiki pages, as well as a web site, have been created to nurture a national campaign to opt out of NCLB and state testing. Below are the names and links to the sites along with descriptions of each site by their creators. Visit them and spread the word to fellow parents and students. In addition, FairTest has materials relevant to opt out efforts.
Opt-Out Pages on Facebook OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST : The National Movement: Members of this site are parents, educators, and social activists who are dedicated to the elimination of high stakes testing in public education. Web Sites Opting Out Guides and Information News Stories Related Web Sites. Bartleby Project 2011: Do not take your state tests! United Opt Out National | The movement to end punitive public school testing. OptOut (@UnitedOptOut) sur Twitter. Gov. Jerry Brown blasts data-based school reform - The Answer Sheet. California Gov. Jerry Brown wrote a tough indictment of data-based school reform in a message he wrote vetoing a bill that would have changed the state’s accountability system for public schools. The legislation, SB547, would have reduced reliance on standardized test scores to evaluate students and schools, but Brown called the legislation “yet another siren song of school reform” and would do nothing to improve the quality of schools.
“SB547 nowhere mentions good character or love of learning,” said the veto message by Brown, who has gone further than any other governor in blasting modern test-based school reform. “It does allude to student excitement and creativity, but does not take these qualities seriously because they can’t be placed in a data stream. Lost in the bill’s turgid mandates is any recognition that quality is fundamentally different from quantity.” The current California accountability system is based mostly on standardized math and English language arts test scores.