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Mostly Cloudy Parents push to ‘opt-out’ in Long Beach
Argue state tests are harmful to students and teachers alike
The test-refusal movement has picked up steam in recent weeks in New York, as state aid for school districts has been tied to reforms proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that include changes to the teacher evaluation system that would more heavily emphasize standardized test scores.
Parents have the right to keep their children from taking the state English Language Arts and math exams given to grades three through eight, and can do so by providing their district with a note stating that intention. But lackluster participation in the tests may put the state, and individual districts, at risk of losing federal funding.
Rich Napolitano, a parent in the Long Beach School District and a social studies teacher at Islip High School, started the Long Beach Opt Out Facebook page last month to provide information to parents about the merits of pulling their children out of the exams. The page has over 300 members, and Napolitano and other parents held an Information Night at Earth Arts in Long Beach last Sunday to answer questions about the tests. The ELA exam began on Tuesday, and students will sit for the math test April 22-24.
“We want to make sure every parent has all the information to make the best possible decision for their child,” said Matt Adler, a Long Beach parent and one of the speakers at the gathering. Adler teaches math at Seaford High School, and his students take the ninth-grade algebra Regents. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” he added, “and parents have some questions about the refusal process.”
Critics of the exams argue that they are flawed, containing questions that are too advanced for the grade levels involved, and that their results offer no meaningful feedback. Unlike Regents exams, past tests are not released, Adler said, so teachers have no way of knowing how to better prepare future students.
He added that the scores are released the following fall, when teachers will no longer have the chance to work with the students they prepared for the test. Regents exams are a requirement for graduation, but the ELA and math tests do not impact students’ academic standing.
