‘Opting out’ of Common Core testing not here yet

Several parishes across Louisiana have had parents opt their students out of taking standardized tests aligned with Common Core benchmarks, but St. Mary isn’t one of them.
News reports indicate some parents in Bossier, DeSoto, Calcasieu and Lafayette parishes are opting out of PARCC tests, named for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers consortium that developed them.
However, St. Mary Superintendent Donald Aguillard warned that opting out here could be detrimental to the schools’ and district’s scores.
“If even 5 percent of students don’t take it and receive a zero, that has consequences for the school and for the district,” Aguillard said, indicating the scores of the schools and district would be hurt with that many children receiving zeroes in this parish.
Jindal’s executive order references state laws in directing the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to “avoid student achievement being negatively impacted by a score of zero as a result of non-participation.”
The order does not direct a specific board action but says “BESE is urged” to allow school districts to administer appropriate alternatives to the exams.
St. Mary Parish implemented a plan this year that suspends “promotional consequences” as a result of testing for the 2014-15 school year because of the anticipated test score delivery delay, Aguillard said.
Instead, St. Mary will use English Language Arts and math grades to determine promotional standards, he added.
There have been no parents asking about opting out, Aguillard said, adding “if a parent decides to keep their child home during that week, we can’t do anything about that.”
There is no alternate test because the state has not provided one, he said.
The state is one month away from starting Phase I testing, the writing portion of English and math, and students and their teachers are engaged in heavy preparation.
“Diverting attention hurts right now,” Aguillard said.
The superintendent said the take-home message is to “stay the course. Unless there is action taken by BESE (in March) we have to assume these tests will continue.”
State Superintendent John White, a Common Core supporter, said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press that there is no constitutional authority behind Friday’s order. BESE President Chas Roemer agreed and said the order was politically motivated and “an obvious attempt by the governor to create chaos in our education system.”
Jindal, who is considering a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, issued the order as some BESE members say they are concerned some parents will have their children skip the exams.
Common Core is a series of standards in reading, writing and math developed in a collaborative effort among states. Jindal once backed them, but has reversed course as some conservatives have opposed them and President Barack Obama’s administration has offered financial incentives for states to support them.
Jindal now casts the standards as an attempt at federal control of education.
While a majority of BESE members support current Common Core plans, there are opponents. Some have said they want a special meeting to discuss Common Core issues, including the possibility that some students will skip the exams.
Testing will include PARCC exams in English Language Arts and math. Students still will take the state’s LEAP test for science and social studies this year.
While 43 states in the union have adopted Common Core State Standards, only 13 are administering PARCC testing to judge the effectiveness of its implementation, according to the respective websites.
Louisiana is listed as having adopted Common Core in July 2010 and as a PARCC state.
Roemer said Friday that the issue will be on the agenda of the next regular board meeting but he said nothing about a special meeting. The BESE website shows the next meeting set for March.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.