Opting out raises concerns

Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence districts split on value of state tests

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Across Long Island, a large number of public school students did not take this year’s state assessments in English Language Arts and math, which were given to third- through eighth-grade students this month, according to figures reported by many schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

“Opting out” of the exams has become an ad hoc movement in many of the state’s school districts. “We believe that the opt-out movement is the result of continually increasing parent dissatisfaction with the state’s current testing regimen,” said Ric Stark, president of the Hewlett-Woodmere Faculty Association. “It may, in time, convince the state to give a closer look at the purpose and impact of the testing itself.” 

In Hewlett-Woodmere, the percentage of students who opted out of the tests mirrored the overall Long Island numbers: 46 percent refused to take the ELA exam, and 50 percent did not sit for the math exam, according to numbers provided by the district last week.

According to a Newsday survey of a majority of public school districts, 46.5 percent of eligible students did not take the ELA exam, and 42.6 percent did not take the math test. 

Student participation in the state assessments does not impact how the district measures student achievement, said Mark Secaur, Hewlett-Woodmere’s assistant superintendent for curriculum. “We utilize the diagnostic NWEA [Northwest Evaluation Association], a computer-based assessment informs our instruction, the [Columbia University] Teachers College Reading and Writing Project to monitor students’ progress and teacher-based evaluations,” he explained. “The diagnostic value of New York State Education Department testing has diminished greatly.”

Stark said that even many Hewlett-Woodmere teachers opted their own children out of the tests in the school districts where they live. “But in their capacities as Hewlett-Woodmere employees,” he added, “they were advised not to advocate for opting out, and to prepare their classes for the exams, in keeping with district policies and regulations. Our advice to teachers was that if parents had inquired about opting out, the teachers should have simply responded, ‘That is your decision.’”

Lawrence

The story was different in the Lawrence School District, where opt-out numbers were much lower than in most Long Island schools. Deputy Superintendent Ann Pedersen, who oversees curriculum and instruction, said that the state assessments provide reliable data because all students take the exams under the same conditions.

“This gives us consistent feedback on achievement as we get the detailed scoring reports that break down the test to the question level and the standard level,” Pedersen said. “The results help in addressing learning gaps, and thereby improve achievement.”

Pedersen said she believes Lawrence’s lower opt-out rate is the result of parents being occupied with meeting the basic needs of their families, working long hours while having what she described as a “respect for the school institution.” 

Lori Skonberg, president of the Lawrence Teachers Association, said her organization believes that “over-testing” doesn’t benefit students or teachers — with 20 percent of a teacher’s professional evaluation determined by state test results. “The LTA supports the momentous statewide movement of parents refusing unfair and overly burdensome assessments,” Skonberg said. “The assessments currently given are ill-designed and therefore not a fair indicator of student or teacher performance. Our state representatives should listen and push for legislative reform.” 

Skonberg said that the LTA advised teachers not to take a position on opting out if asked about it by parents or students, and supported Superintendent Gary Schall’s view that parents have a right to opt out but should make informed decisions. 

Pedersen said that, in addition to reducing the amount of information the district could collect to help students, she is concerned that opting out sends the wrong message to children. “We teach our learners to ‘show what they know’ and be proud of their accomplishments,” she said. “It’s OK to come across challenges.” 

Have an opinion about opting out? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.