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Monday, March 09, 2015

Parents ­ Refuse the PARCC Tests

I asked the Worcester County Public School Administration the following question: Will the PARCC assessment results (grade) be used in the student final grade? If so, what percent of student's final grade will be made up of PARCC results? Their response: No, PARCC assessment results are not used in the calculation of a student’s coursework grade. It is an accountability measure for teachers, principals, schools, and the school system, but not the student. 

If PARCC tests are to have no bearing on your child's final grade or performance, why are we spending months teaching to a test that does nothing more than collect data to fire teachers and shut down schools? The data is useless to the student. The test results won't even be back until December 2015, long after your child has moved to the next grade. Why are we putting undue stress and anxiety on our children? Statewide, taxpayers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade technology and to pay for the costs of administering the PARCC tests. As large of a concern is the student level data being collected on your children that PARCC is required to share with the US Dept.of Education as part of their agreement for federal funding.

* School boards may try to manipulate you through fear and intimidation to participate in the assessments.Their agenda is to get a certain percentage of students to take the test in order to qualify for federal funding .You and your children have the right to refuse the PARCC assessments.There is no Maryland or Federal law stating that your child must participate in these tests. Ask them to show you the law.


1 comment:


  1. Dear Readers,

    local schools and school districts are telling parents there is no “opt out” provision for the Assessments. This is true. What they don’t tell you, is there doesn’t need to be an opt out because no law or regulation exists in Maryland or on the federal level that directs/mandates/dictates your child “must take” the tests. The full guide to opting out can be found at:

    http://unitedoptout.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Maryland-July-2014.pdf

    Respectfully,

    Paladin

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