NYC Opt Out Presentation:
Info Session 2022
Click HERE to view the slide presentation for this event.
Due to time constraints on Tuesday, we were unable to answer all the questions that were raised in the chat. Questions that may have been unanswered, along with responses, are provided below. If you have any additional questions or would like to talk with someone at NYC Opt Out about test refusal, please contact us here.
Q: How are students evaluated for admissions to NYC public middle and high schools if they don’t have 4th or 7th grade NY State test scores?
A: Currently no NYC middle or high schools are using NYS test scores for admissions decisions for any students.
Q: Do students who "opt out" of NYS tests stay home from school during test administration?
A: You do not have to keep your child home from school in order to refuse the tests. If possible, make arrangements with your child’s teacher and/or principal for what your child will do during the testing days. Most schools will have non-testing children read, write, or draw quietly either in their classroom or in a separate location like the library. Some will send children to help out in lower grades. If the school has large numbers of children opting out, the school day may proceed more or less normally, with the few children who are testing sent to a separate location.
Q: How much time is dedicated to testing and test prep in NYC public schools?
A: For most children in 3rd-8th grade, six full days are dedicated to the NYS math and ELA exams. Children in grades 4 and 8 have two additional days of science testing for a total of eight full days. The amount of time spent on test prep varies by school. Schools with very high opt out numbers lose NO instructional time to prep. Other schools dedicate months to preparing, and may even run "Saturday academies" devoted to test prep.
Q: What alternatives exist to make sure your child is thriving academically if they refuse to take the NYS exams?
A: Teachers in all of our public schools have assessment processes in place, based on multiple measures, that they use to evaluate how students are learning. Teacher-created low-stakes evaluations provide a far better measure of student learning than one test score generated by one exam.
Q: What are the negative consequences to schools with low NYS test scores?
A: Schools with low test scores for several years in a row may be designated in need of “Comprehensive Support and Improvement” (CSI) or “Targeted Support and Improvement.” These designations require burdensome paperwork for school administrators and bring extra scrutiny from outside consultants hired by the state. However, contrary to popular wisdom, schools labeled this way do NOT lose funding.
Q: If a school is already on the NYS CSI list, could the school fall into “receivership” if a large number of students refuse to take the NY State tests?
A: Schools on the NYS CSI list are expected to make “annual demonstrable improvement on specific benchmarks” or they can theoretically be placed under an independent receiver. No school has been placed under receivership simply because a large number of students refused to take the NY State tests.
