Teacher educator and mom Kathleen Luttenegger laments the heavy emphasis on standardized testing in Colorado. She couldn’t opt her daughter out of testing – so she took her out of public school.
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It is March. Once again, TCAP testing is upon us. Each March, I find myself feeling more and more distressed. It makes me sad that really good teachers and principals have to face TCAP (formerly CSAP; to be called PARCC). The joy goes out of learning for some period of time every year for our children.
There are a myriad of reasons why a student might do poorly on high-stakes standardized tests – only one of which is not knowing the right answer.
Have you ever taken a test when you don’t feel well? Look around. March is the time for cold and flu season. My own family is battling a cold virus right now. This weekend we have daylight savings time. Great idea – test students right after changing the clock and they are all out of whack due to changes in sleep. Most parents I know don’t look forward to the first week or two after “springing forward,” especially trying to get up and get going in the morning.
Talk to any public school teacher right now, and they will tell you the pressure is on to do well on these tests. So much so, that they are stressed out. Kids pick up on that stress. Many students have high anxiety around these tests – yet another reason why a student might not perform well on TCAP. And, let’s be honest, many students don’t care a whole lot about TCAP. Why should they care?
As a parent, I looked into opting my daughter out of TCAP. I found out that parents no longer have this choice. State law requires that every child enrolled in public school take TCAP or the alternative at the required grade levels [22-7-409(1.2.a.1.d.l)]. Because I couldn’t opt my daughter out of TCAP, I opted out of public school.
I’m in education because I love learning and teaching. I love the energy and the spirit of schools. I enjoy working with students and families. It is exciting to watch children learn. There is such joy in reading a classic book together. There is great excitement in writing a persuasive essay about saving endangered animals. Watching children prepare for TCAP? Not so much fun. Most schools started TCAP prep sometime in September. At first, it is usually once a week or so. Then, starting in January, it becomes a primary focus of instruction. February brings on the stress and now, it is time to test. No matter how many raffles schools hold to entice students to come to school during the testing period, no matter how many “fun” activities are scheduled around testing – the stress and the pressure are palpable. After TCAP, schools will return to focusing on learning. But, March? I find March to be a joyless time in schools.
Our legislature has created a pressure cooker situation around these high-stakes tests. It is out of control. These tests are being used for purposes they were never intended. This test was not designed to measure teacher effectiveness. It was not designed for use in making placement decisions for individual children. The effect of all of this is clear – stressed out teachers, principals, children and even parents. And, as an educator, that makes me immensely sad.
About the author
Kathleen Luttenegger, PhD., is an assistant professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches undergraduate, licensure, and graduate courses in the teacher education program. As a single parent, Luttenegger keeps busy raising her very spirited daughter, whom she adopted from Guatemala.
You are absolutely right about what you say, unfortunately many of us can’t opt our kids out of public school. However they are beginning to be bright lights like the one in Seattle at Garfield HS or in Texas where more and more people are resisting the tests and all of their nonsense. It will be a struggle because those who profit off of the testing industry, many whose names are on the bottom of this site, will not let the people take their profits away so easily. I am finally feeling some hope as this privatizing ed-reform movement is taking ever more beatings in the polls and in public opinion. They have billions but it couldn’t win them the race in LA, it couldn’t win them Arturo Jimenez’s seat here, and it couldn’t win them Indiana. We just must keep up the good fight.
We need to see more legislative clarity around C.R.S. 22-7-409, but while that statute says over and over that districts SHALL administer the tests, nowhere does it say that students MUST take it.
Parents in DPS right now have opted their children out, with good reason. They want meaningful assessments that are true diagnostics, and they want kids to be spending time learning new things, not strategizing how to take tests. Last year, only 2 weeks of the school year was devoted to things not associated with testing or test prep, and the TCAP is only one of the dizzying array of tests that kids have to take.
The law requires us to administer the test; it does not compel you to submit your child to it. In my opinion, to do so would violate your parental right to direct the education of your child, as protected by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, if you are a parent that decides to opt out, be prepared to stand your ground. You will get all manner of browbeating and pressure, and your child will likely be badgered and tried to make feel guilty. You will hear that your student’s scores will really help out the school and the teacher.
As a parent, that’s not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to your child and her/his future. If schools are facing such sanctions that they have to curtail your child’s educational experience to save adult jobs, then you might consider having a stern discussion with your school board member.
I stand by parents who decide to opt out, and I especially encourage parents of English learners to think hard about what damage a low score due to English proficiency can actually do to their child. None of the parents that I know who have opted out take this situation lightly. Kids are not home watching video games. One student I know is working on a project to chronicle the good that comes from tragedies. Another has researched the law around assessments and is preparing a presentation for other kids. Another one baked cupcakes at home and had to demonstrate knowledge of liquids changing into solid matter, had to use fractions to make the right measurements and had to discuss agricultural cycles.
That feels like solid learning to me. Go, parents!
My fourth-grader has just started her TCAP testing, and finds it exceedingly boring. She says many of the kids are finished with the test in half an hour, but the test must be administered for an hour, so they all have to sit there silently for half an hour; no reading or playing, you can’t even put your head down on your desk. I am tired of this nonsense and not only want her to opt out; I want the whole school to boycott the test next year. I would love to join or meet with other parents who feel the same way so we can get a movement started, like in Seattle (although that started with teachers, not with parents). Does anyone know of any organization that can help parents band together to stop this?
Eve,
You might be interested in the organization started by Diane Ravitch – The Network for Public Education at http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org. Their website says:
The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society. Our mission is to protect, preserve, promote, and strengthen public schools and the education of current and future generations of students. We will accomplish this by networking groups and organizations focused on similar goals in states and districts throughout the nation, share information about what works and what doesn’t work in public education, and endorse and rate candidates for office based on our principles and goals. More specifically, we will SUPPORT CANDIDATES WHO OPPOSE HIGH-STAKES TESTING, MASS SCHOOL CLOSURES, the PRIVATIZATION OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS and the outsourcing of its core functions to for-profit corporations, and we will support candidates who work for evidence-based reforms that will improve our schools and the education of our nation’s children.
My grandchildren have alwyas been opted out of CSAP. My oldest granddaughter, who is a senior at the University of Northern Colorado, never took CSAP, my grandson who is a sophomore in high school has necer taken CSAP, my granddaughter who is in third grade, is not taking CSAP, in fact, she is currently with me doing academics with me, while her classmates sugger though TCAP, as it is currently called. My youngest granddaughter is only two, but if the nonsense is still around, she will be opted out as well. My two oldest grandchildren caught flack at first, but they basically told the school administration and teachers that they were not of an age to make these decisions, if they had a problem with it, they should contact threir parents.
I teach 6th grade math. As March approaches the stress increases significantly to cover four quarters of material in three quarters. I have never understood the stupidity in expecting kids to do well under these conditions. I love teaching but I am about to retire in 1-2 years. I have seen enough. The kids I have in my 6th grade class today are good kids. They have changed little in 24 years. I have changed. I can no longer be part of irrational administrative decisions that have little merit in the large scheme of teaching 6th grade math. There is no longer any logic left in decisions!
Happy pi day!
Kathleen,
This was my first year administering the TCAP. THank goodness we only had approximately 7 hours of testing opposed to my colleagues in higher grades who have as much as 13 hours of testing. (That is way more than the MCAT!) I have never felt so stressed out in my professional career. Luckily my students kept really great attitudes but they don’t know the ramifications and they shouldn’t have to bear that burden. There seems to be no balance and purpose behind this testing besides “accountability.” I feel as though the word has lost all meaning. Thank you for taking the time to understand and write about the issue.
Andrea,
I agree with your comments about how we need more meaningful assessments and how TCAP should not cloud actual learning. And, yes, parents absolutely have the right to opt in or out. Yet as a school board member, I am saddened by your comment that “[i]f schools are facing such sanctions that they have to curtail your child’s educational experience to save adult jobs, then you might consider having a stern discussion with your school board member.” I don’t quite understand your meaning behind this statement. I am wondering whose jobs you are referring to. As a classroom teacher, I can tell that the vast majority of my colleagues are frustrated and worried about high-stakes testing rather than seeing it as a vehicle to save their jobs. This sort of assessing does not reflect what they believe or what I believe is best practice. I guess then, the question is what can all parties do to help with this issue? Thoughts?
Ms. Melnychenko, I think it’s time that Colorado teachers take the high road, in the example of Seattle and others, and start speaking plainly about the damage wrought upon kids through high-stakes testing. I have had conversations with several Denver parents in the last month, who told me that teachers were using scare tactics to keep the kids in school during TCAP administration.
The thing is that I don’t believe these teachers were being malicious; rather, I think these teachers fear for their jobs. They shouldn’t have to. They need to start having plain discussions about what is really happening to the education that students are getting. Teachers have a natural alliance with parents that they generally don’t take advantage of, from what I have observed. Of course, I’m only speaking from my experience.
I realize that teachers are under siege these days, and that probably the fact that many are natural nurturers is keeping them from speaking out. But they must. If they don’t, they are being complicit with this very mechanism that is threatening their jobs–the high-stakes test.
But they should use their association to speak out as one voice. Just today, CEA posted a video on their Facebook wall depicting a sort of music video in the fashion of the Gagnam Style song by Psy. Their justification for doing so? To “show how educators help raise the morale of students during a stressful week of testing.” My response? “Why would you celebrate the very tool used to push all of you out of the profession?”
Why would CEA members allow this kind of thing to go on in the social media portal that supposedly represents their association’s voice? It’s a tacit endorsement of high-stakes testing. Who’s driving CEA? Why aren’t teachers clamping down on this kind of message?
Andrea,
Thank you for responding to my question. Those are very interesting details regarding conversations you have had with parents. It makes me sad that teachers are living in such cultures of fear in the r buildings, which inevitably transfer to students. My feeling is that while teachers are nurturers, they are also incredibly overwhelmed with trying to balance the many systems and changes at play. This is not meant to be an excuse but a way to understand why it is difficult to stay on top of the myriad of messages flung amongst unions, politicians, school boards, non-profits, universities, districts, media, etc. I consider myself to be relatively well-informed in comparison to other colleagues, yet I apparently missed the CEA video. (I wonder if it really was meant to be a celebration or something to relieve teachers, like a cat video. There are some pretty great ones out there. I had to find ways to motivate my students, too.)
Let’s even step back a bit and ask, how can we empower teachers to take authentic action rather than overwhelm them with more demands? Also keep in mind that teachers are taking on other issues in the political realm. I agree that something needs to happen with high-stakes testing, especially if voucher programs continue, in which private schools are not held to the same “accountability” standards. That is a whole other conversation about truly measuring growth and achievement, And so, yes, I would prefer not to have the massive headaches I had during our testing sessions. Your advice is sound. Talk to our representatives.
“One had to cram all this stuff into one’s mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year.” –Albert Einstein
Chedcking parent portal last night, I noticed that one of my child’s teachers is using tdap test prep as a graded assignment. Is this ethical?
Ms. Olsen, it could very well be that the teacher is trying to reduce the workload she/he ends up having to assign to students. It could also be that she/he is trying to focus class time on real learning of new things, as opposed to learning how to game the system.
I’d talk to the teacher. If it’s a DPS teacher, I’d be happy to help you get clarity on this. andrea_merida@dpsk12.org.
Ms. Melnychenko, I am not a teacher. I cannot truly know what it’s like to make some of the self-preserving decisions teachers have to make every day; to sacrifice self-advocacy in favor of putting kids’ needs first.
I speak to DPS teachers every day. They are afraid to speak out. Many have broken down from the stress or have started to take on the characteristics that administrations try to pin on them.
All I can say is that if teachers are going to wait around for administrations and school boards to “get it,” they may as well hang it up. Real change never happens during hand-wringing sessions. Teachers need to realize that this hostile, aggressive environment is not going to wait or slow down long enough to get a word in edgewise. This is why Karen Lewis and CORE/CTU are personal heroes of mine. At some point, a teacher has to recognize that sometimes being “negative” is a means to getting to “positive.”
How to empower teachers? I think they need to truly organize. Standing together creates the space where personal courage can flourish.
Start by occupying CEA…
STRIKE!!!! UNTIED WALK OUT!!!
This discussion is very interesting, but I haven’t heard many stories of how this affects your children. My son, who is a 4.0 student and a bit of a perfectionist, has been so stressed out with this testing that he cries at dinner about it and loses sleep. Also, when I was a high school student, I took some kind of I.Q. test and I was tired and menstrual and got a score that indicated that I was mentally handicapped. Eventually I got a Ph.D. I hate this focus on testing and would love it if Colorado would follow Seattle’s lead.
Kika, should we also get rid of SAT and ACT? Talk about stress! Move up one point, from 23 to 24 on the ACT and you pass 150,000 students nationwide. Yet I do not hear many parents complaining about those high stress standardized exams that are normed. Is this because parents and students are not as worried about where they stand based on the standards (as TCAP does) versus where they stand as compared to other students? Which exam has less to do with learning and more about ranking?
The exams, which have some faults, as in length and when we get results, are not to blame for the stress. We need to blame the adults for the stress. If the adults would present the exams as checkups, as ways to find out what a student knows, versus presenting them as punitive tools, we’d see the stress drop.
Mark … kids and parents don’t complain about the stress of SAT and ACT because there is a gain and a result for the kids directly related to how well they do on those tests … CSAP/TCAP/PARCC !! has no such value. I heard a panel of high school kids saying they thought it was ironic that the test is used as an assessment of school and teacher performance when the kids had zero stake in the results.
Well, the adults are stressed about it too. So now what?
Jill,
So, the problem with TCAP is that there is no extrinsic reward? Students would sit through 9 hours of testing if they were ranked against each other and the results used to get them into the school of their choice? Yes, let’s introduce competition among students, that always works to raise the bar for all students.
Oh no Mark – that’s not what I meant to suggest – only that the kids have nothing at all to gain from the TCAP test – whereas doing well on the SAT and/or the ACT could help them – perhaps get into a school or find funding. The TCAP is not very useful at all – the results are not meaningful in anyway to help the kids or teachers …
my point is that the kids have absolutely nothing at stake or to gain.
Jill,
TCAP is useful and here’s how. As a classroom teacher I can look at TCAP scores of my incoming students and make determinations on what areas of instruction I need to focus on. Our school uses TCAP scores to place students into classes that meet their needs, whether they be struggling or not. We use TCAP scores as a measure to check for curricular alignment. We use TCAP scores, in addition to other measures, to identify teachers that are being successful to then spread their wealth so to speak. In addition, at our school, during pep assemblies, we celebrate students who showed tremendous growth in TCAP. In other words, we use TCAP to identify, mobilize, and celebrate student learning.
Mark, So what about the students who excel but just don’t do well taking tests? And on the other side of that, I have a student in my college class who almost (not by one point) tested out of my class, and he’s getting C’s in his essays and obviously has a lot to learn. I understand that it’s useful to look at these test scores; I get that. But I think whether you’re good at taking tests, especially in literacy (where they need good critical thinking skills, hard to test) or whether you’re truly ready for advanced classes is difficult to determine and I think the final grade should determine that. And as for my son’s stress level, I’ve been not pressuring him. He feels pressured by the school.
Kika, I cannot think of anything more inaccurate than letter grades. They are a sausage of behavior traits, varied point totals, and a plethora of scores that don’t tell you what a student knows or is able to do. Don’t get me started on that.
Don’t colleges use finals as the major evaluation of a student’s academic achievement? And don’t colleges use multiple choice exams as finals? Do students get stressed because of finals in college?
Varied measures of student achievement are necessary, including but not limited to TCAP.
That your son gets stressed over exams is going to be a factor he will have to come to grips with. That the stress comes from schools that tell students how they do on the exams could impact a teacher’s employment, or a school’s ratings is wrong. I’d consider it malpractice. Instead schools and teachers should tell students that TCAP is a checkup, it is a way for them to see what they know and are able to do. “Show us what you know,” should be the last thing a student hears before taking any exam.
In my class we deal with test anxiety in a variety of ways. One of which is to have students write down their worst fears about the test just before they take it. This allows students to literally alter the chemical reactions taking place in their brains. It stops the flight or fright reaction, which allows for the good chemicals to take over.
Mark, I appreciate what I consider to be your good attitude about how to calm the students about testing. I just don’t think you might be the norm.
For literacy at FRCC, we don’t do tests, but an evaluation of a portfolio at the end of the semester. If they pass the persuasive essay based on a second reader, they pass the class. If not, they get an incomplete and have to revise it to pass.
Frankly, I have mixed feelings about it. Many students give up if they get an incomplete. But I like that it’s not standard multiple choice grading, and they have to demonstrate more sophisticated skills.
And I concede that some students get a one grade letter higher for other aspects than their actual performance, but some students (like the example I gave you) do great at testing but still can’t write! If you think letter grading is so inaccurate, it’s time to adjust the evaluation standards that create that grade.
I am coming a bit late to this conversation but I wanted to let everyone know that as Andrea Merida has said, a child cannot be required to take the test. They are required to administer it – but no child, in any state, can be forced to take the test. You can opt out, but you must stand your ground and be prepared to handle potential pressure from the administration. If we can help, please let me know. I help parents every day, across the country, opt their children out of the state test. I opt my own child out of the test here in Colorado. Our website is http://www.unitedoptout.com .