Math exams to start as opt-out effort continues
ALBANY – A second round of state testing will begin Wednesday in New York public schools as a movement to refuse the exams in protest continues to gain momentum.
Students in grades 3-8 will sit Wednesday for the first of three consecutive days of state-mandated math testing, about a week after some districts saw more than 50 percent of their students refuse a round of English language arts tests last week.
Statewide, at least 184,000 students opted out of the English exams, according to United to Counter, an activist group that has been tallying test refusals and is opposed to the Common Core education standards the exams are based on. And parent and union groups encouraging the opt-out effort hope to see those numbers grow this week.
"I definitely think it will grow," said Lisa Rudley, an Ossining parent and co-founder of NYS Allies for Public Education, which has helped promote the effort. "It's a big statement. I'm getting a lot of emails: My child took the ELA exam, can I opt out of the math?"
If last year is a guide, the number of test refusals could see a bump.
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About 1.1 million students in grades 3-8 took the English and math exams in 2014.
About 49,000 didn't take the English tests and had no "known, valid" excuse for missing them, according to the state Education Department. When the math exams rolled around, the number grew to 67,000.
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Top education officials in New York have pushed back against the refusal movement, arguing that the tests provide valuable information that allows students and schools to be compared against the rest of the state.
But the parent and union groups leading the effort say they're sending a message about what they say is an over-reliance on "high-stakes" testing in elementary and middle school.
In an interview last week with Time Warner Cable's "Capital Tonight," Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch acknowledged the Education Department probably hasn't "done a great job communicating what the purpose of this test is." The Regents set education policy in New York.
But she re-enforced the importance of the tests, saying they provide valuable information to schools and parents alike.
"The purpose of this test and the testing system in New York state is to provide for parents, school districts, teachers and principals a snapshot into how each student is doing, how each school is doing, and to be able to measure those numbers against peer groups, against other schools, against schools that manage the same types of populations," Tisch said in the television interview.
The test-refusal effort has been more prevalent in some districts than others, with the opt-out rates particularly high in some suburban school districts, such as Fairport in Monroe County and Mahopac in Putnam County, both of which saw more than 50 percent of students refuse the English exams.
Statewide, there are no official opt-out numbers available and details on participation likely won't come until the summer months. United to Counter's estimate of 184,000 refusals, however, is based on a detailed tally of news articles and reports directly from schools and accounts for about 72 percent of the state's 700 districts.
Robert Lowry, deputy director of the state Council of School Superintendents, said school administrators aren't sure what to expect when students return to testing Wednesday. Anecdotally, schools haven't seen a large jump in previous years between the English and math exams, he said.
"I don't know what to expect this year because I think the overall number of opt-outs seems to have jumped dramatically on the (English language arts exams) this year," Lowry said. "But if the past is any guide, I would expect the numbers to be pretty similar."
High opt-out rates in individual school districts could cause problems for the state's system of evaluating teachers, which is based in part on student test scores. A spokesman for state Education Department, however, said last week the agency is "confident" it will be able to generate a representative sample of test results to be used.
Among those pushing back against the opt-out movement is a collection of business groups, who say the Common Core-based tests and increased education standards will help provide a more-educated workforce.
High Achievement New York, a business-backed group, issued a report Tuesday showing the state spends more than $19,000 per student — the top rate in the country. But its eighth-graders ranked below 30th in the National Assessment of Education Progress on both English and math in 2013, according to the report.
"We need to encourage higher standards to ensure that our workforce has the skills necessary to compete in the modern economy," Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the state Business Council, said in a statement Tuesday.
On a plane returning Tuesday from Cuba, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was asked about the opt-out effort and the New York State United Teachers union's suggestion that parents consider refusing the tests.
Whether or not to opt-out of the exams is a parent's choice, Cuomo told reporters.
"From a parent's point of view, they have the right," Cuomo said. "What the teachers union advocated — the legality of that, the funding, that I'll leave to the federal government and the (state Education Department)."
At the state Capitol on Monday, the head of the teachers union said the test-refusal effort makes it "obvious" that "parents are outraged."
"Parents don't trust what's going on in the schools regarding testing," New York State United Teachers President Karen Magee said. "They want to see their own local school districts have the ability to make decisions for their schools."
Twitter: @JonCampbellGAN