The Cazenovia school district administration team has decided to change its policy for students who opt-out of grades 3 through 8 math, science and ELA state assessment tests this month. Instead of sitting at their desks for 90 minutes staring into space each day for the six days of the testing, students not taking the tests now will be allowed to read quietly at their desks.
“We reconsidered our policy for what was in the best interests of the children,” said Superintendent Matt Reilly.
Reilly said this reconsideration based on a large amount of district residents’ response to his original March 27 letter to parents that explained the tests, the district’s policy and the state’s mandates regarding 3-8 assessments.
“Assessment is vital to understanding the learning needs of individual students and the programmatic needs of the school. The data we gather and analyze from assessments throughout the year helps us refine our curriculum and improve our instructional methods,” the letter stated. “Most importantly, the data we gather on individual students helps teachers address any learning gaps that may exist and provides direction for enrichment and acceleration opportunities. While testing is an integral part of students’ education at every level, it is equally important to remember that a test is simply one measure of performance.”
State test scores are not included in a student’s academic record or part of a student’s overall grade point average. The test results are used by the state in part to determine future financial aid to school districts, as well as part of teachers’ annual performance evaluations.
Under state law, students cannot be forced to take the state assessments and their parents can “opt out” their children from the testing. As the Cazenovia district’s March 27 letter explained, “Understand that children refusing the NYS Assessments will be required to sit in the classroom without resources during the test administration.”
This state mandate, labelled by some testing opponents and student advocates as the “sit and stare” policy, has been widely criticized throughout the state. Groups such as New York State United Teachers and New York State Allies for Public Education have called the state’s sit and stare policy “abusive” and have called for parents throughout New York to opt their children out of the testing.
Reilly said the district has a “legal responsibility” to administer the state assessments, and his March 27 letter was simply to inform parents of the value of the tests and give them information about “opting in” and “opting out” of the assessments.
“If parents choose to opt their kids out, we respect it,” he said. “Certainly this is an issue that has stirred emotions — valid emotions — that I would sit and talk with people about.”
Reilly said that while he requested the district be notified in writing by parents of opt outs by April 10, students may be opted out at any time. Reilly still asks for the refusal to be submitted to the district in writing for record keeping purposes.
Students who show up late to school to avoid sitting at their desks for 90 minutes during testing will not be considered absent, but those who do attend school now will be able to read silently at their desks, he said.
More information on state assessment testing can be found on the school district’s website at cazenoviacsd.com.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
