A revolt seems to be brewing against state mandated assessment tests in public schools.
Bayfield and Ignacio students recently finished taking the new PARCC test, which most students take online. That's Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
Bayfield and Ignacio students were finishing make-up tests last week to wrap up the process, at least for PARCC.
Bayfield Superintendent Troy Zabel told the school board on March 17 that there were a few glitches, mainly residing with the testing company.
"The big issue is statewide," he said. "We had an active group pushing for opt out," primarily parents who didn't want their kids to take the test. In Bayfield schools, 86 kids were opted out, out of an enrollment of around 1,300, he said. Most were at the middle and high school, with nine at the elementary school.
"It's a political issue," he continued. "There was a very active effort to send out form letters. We didn't accept those. (Parents) had to personalize them."
He said some districts in the state have had 100 percent opt out, while others had none.
"In the past, if you dropped below 95 percent (participation in taking the test), they (Colorado Department of Education) dropped your rating" as a school district. They waived that" because of the flood of opt outs, Zabel said.
Ignacio Assessment and Curriculum Director Kathy Pokorney told the Times that Ignacio had around 30 students opt-out. "As a district, I think we met the 95 percent," she said.
Zabel told the Times, "We are seeing way more opt outs than we ever have across the state."
He thinks there are various reasons for that, including a backlash against too much testing, and opposition to PARCC because it's aligned with the Common Core standards.
"There's enough political unrest that I think we'll see changes" in testing mandates, he said.
Board president Tim Stumpf said one person complained to him about PARCC being yet another test on top of the TCAP and CSAP tests. The CSAP test, which started in the late 1990s, was replaced a few years ago by the TCAP, which has now been replaced by PARCC.
Districts and individual schools have received state ratings based on results of these tests.
In Ignacio, Board President Toby Roderick complained earlier this year that their poor results on these tests don't reflect the quality of education kids are getting there.
Test glitches were discussed at the March 19 Ignacio board meeting,
"PARCC isn't an academic test. It's a technology test," said board member Troy Webb, who is a principal in the Aztec School District in New Mexico. Some kids had to wait for a half hour to be able to log in to the online test, he said.
Referring to the testing company, he said, "The Pearson people are wanting for intelligence. ...They didn't build their testing site appropriately. You have to be so computer literate..."
He continued, "I watched kids sit at the computer, write their story, and then it's gone and they say, 'I won't do it again.' They write, 'The fox went to the store.'"
Webb said the PARCC training site "is horrible." He complained of testing that sucks up much of the spring semester. "You aren't getting any instruction," he said. He also complained the district might not get PARCC results until next January.
Assessment Director Pokorney said of PARCC, "We did fairly well, but we still had our issues. One kid got kicked out (of the on-line test) 18 times on the same question. ... Once we figured out the technical issues, we rocked and rolled. Everyone put their heart and soul into getting the kids tested and making it a positive experience."
