Message from Diane Ravitch about Opt Out from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.

The Opt Out movement, which encourages parents to pull their children out of the yearly standardized testing regimen, is alive and well, though you wouldn’t know it in Arizona. Two opt out bills were proposed and went down during this year’s legislative session, and our Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Arizona children cannot legally opt out of the test. That’s not entirely true, but opting out is difficult enough, it hasn’t caught on here in a big way like it has in some other states.

The video above is a two minute talk by Diane Ravitch about why high stakes tests are problematic and why parents should consider opting their children out of the test. Ravitch is an educational historian and researcher who has written a number of books, including her very influential 2010 book, The Death and Live of the Great American School System. She is currently the President of the Network for Public Education, an organization that promotes progressive education and fights against the privatization agenda of the “education reform” movement.

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2016.

2 replies on “It’s State Testing—and Opt Out—Season”

  2. David, so glad you’re continuing, in your own unique “in-theory-but-not-in-local-practice” way, to promote the Opt Out cause.

    While you’re at it, could you give us an update on the status of opt out policies in TUSD, including what kids who elect to opt out will be subjected to and what Dibbels reading evaluation involves and when and where it is used in the district? How about trends in AP requirements, offerings and enrollment rates at UHS vs. other high schools?

    Thanks in advance for translating your commitments into some analysis and advocacy on behalf of our kids in Tucson.

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