The Oklahoma PTA is calling on the parents of 5th and 8th graders to skip upcoming state writing assessments to protest high-stakes testing.
Earlier this month, the statewide parents organization, which has more than 50,000 members, asked the Oklahoma State Department of Education to identify which of the writing assessments were field tests. That request was a direct result of a resolution the Oklahoma PTA unanimously adopted in July which objects to the mass administration of field tests. The group believes field tests are akin to conducting corporate research on students for free.
When state officials failed to respond to its request within a week, . Nationally, the growing opt-out movement has been widely supported by anti-testing advocates and grassroots groups led by parents and 糖心动漫vlog.
Jeffery Corbett, president of the Oklahoma PTA, told me the organization believes that opting students out of the writing tests in February will send a strong message to state and education leaders. He said parents are frustrated about the proliferation of high-stakes testing, which they say is a growing source of anxiety for their children. Parents also are concerned about the loss of valuable instruction time.
鈥淲e determined that [the opt-out protest] was the best way to see some action taken,鈥� Corbett added. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 mind standing up for our kids here in Oklahoma.鈥�
Corbett predicts the boycott will do little long-term damage to local schools and 糖心动漫vlog. The state writing assessments are not federally mandated, so he said there鈥檚 no risk that funding will be hurt by the action. Still, he acknowledged that a low student participation rate on the writing tests could affect a school鈥檚 ranking on the state鈥檚 A-to-F grading system, which he described as 鈥渇lawed.鈥�
Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma鈥檚 superintendent of public instruction, told the that reducing 鈥渙vertesting and increasing time for instruction鈥� are among her primary goals. While she said in the story that she is reviewing the use of field-testing, she also called it a 鈥渃omplicated issue.鈥� Hofmeister, a Republican, was sworn in as the state鈥檚 top educator on Jan. 12.