"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Opting out of common core tests: The rest of the story

Sent to the Seattle Times, April 6, 2015.

Not mentioned in "More Seattle students opt out of new Common Core tests," (April 6) is the fact that the opt out movement is nation-wide: The article mentions only Washington State and New Mexico, but parents are refusing the common core tests for their children in record numbers throughout the country.
The article barely mentions why: Opting out is not simply because of a desire for local control or fears of children getting a low score: For many parents, it is because the common core has increased the amount of testing far beyond anything experienced before, and because the tests are based on a rigid, untested and often developmentally inappropriate set of standards. 
The parents are doing what the educational establishment should have done when the common core was first presented to the American public.

Stephen Krashen

original article: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/more-seattle-students-opt-out-of-new-common-core-tests/

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