Opting out of Common Core tests: Is it even an option?

NEWARK – A couple of days into the new Common Core-based tests, Hollie Linton decided she'd seen enough.

Her middle school-age daughter was so stressed that Linton initially thought she had the flu. When she learned it was text anxiety instead, that was it: Linton decided to opt out. The tests are too difficult, too long and too high-pressure, and she doesn't want her daughter taking them, she said.

"I mean, I have never opted her out of any other state test. I'm not the type of parent who's at the school for everything, (saying) 'I don't want my child doing this or this,' " Linton said. "I definitely did not make an uneducated or uninformed decision. I made a healthy, appropriate decision for my child."

Earlier this month, students across Ohio started taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests. The tests are centered around Common Core, and, in an effort to push back against the new standards, some parents are withdrawing their children from taking the exams.

It's called opting-out, but that leads to a question: Is it even an option?

From a strictly legal standpoint, there is no law that allows a student or parent to opt out of testing, and there is no state test opt-out form or procedure, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Federal and state laws require districts to test all students in specific grades and courses, and if a student refuses to participate, "there may be consequences for the child, the child's teacher, and the school and district," according to state education department.

That being said, educators can't really make anyone do anything, said Licking Valley Local Schools Superintendent Dave Hile. Licking Valley had one student opt out this year. Administrators had the parent put the opt-out in writing and, during testing, that student will be given an alternative assignment, Hile said.

"You can't force a parent or a child to do anything," he said. "If they don't want to do it, you can't force them to do it."

Opt-outs down the road could affect Licking Valley's district report card, but, frankly, Hile doesn't care.

Board policy

Linton sent an email to Newark City Schools, saying she didn't want her daughter to finish the PARCC tests. In response, district Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Maura Horgan wrote that state- and school-board policies require all the district's students to take the tests.

"(E)ven if your child were to miss the testing, the District would require her to make up the assessment," Horgan wrote.

The district's community outreach coordinator, Seth Roy, said that policy — not allowing opt-outs — is based on information from the state and advice from the district's attorney. The law requires districts to test students, so that's what the schools intend to do, Roy said.

"We didn't decide, 'Oh, we want to give every Newark City Schools student a test'; we were directed by the state," he said. "We listened to parents' concerns, but again, if we're directed to do something ..."

Linton's argument — and that of other opt-out supporters — is that the law requires districts to administer the test, but it doesn't require students to take it. She plans to keep pushing her concerns up the chain, she said.

Consequences?

In the spring, the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 487, which provides one year of "safe harbor" for districts and teachers during Ohio's transition to the new testing system. The Ohio Department of Education is providing information on possible consequences from opt-outs, but ultimately, it's up to each district to determine its own policy, spokesman John Charlton said.

"That's their decision," Charlton said. "But we do know that there's certain measures on the report card that would be impacted negatively (by opt-outs)."

At Tri-Valley Local Schools in Muskingum County, more than 350 of the district's roughly 3,100 students have opted out.

At Heath City Schools, though, Superintendent Trevor Thomas had a few opt-out conversations with parents, but none ended up taking that route. Thomas encourages concerned parents to talk to their building principals, he said. The parents ask questions, the principals answer them, and so far, it hasn't gone past that.

If it did — "if the parent makes the absolute decision they will absolutely not allow their student to test" — Heath schools would accept that, Thomas said.

"I most certainly don't encourage it," he said.

hsparling@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8822

Twitter: @hksparling