Carla Farris talks with other parents and some educators about opting her daughter out of standardized testing. The group met last month in Highlands Ranch. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post).
Lots going on in education this week. Did you hear that new state assessments of some sort debuted in Colorado? We may have written a word or two about it.
The week also featured a complicating wrinkle to a bipartisan student data privacy bill at the Statehouse, a forum on student protest movements, a voucher ruling in The South and more. On to this week’s Take Note …
Opt-out or refusal, opt-out or refusal … We did not have the space to delve into semantics in our story Sunday about the movement to hold students out of PARCC testing, but it is revealing. Parents protesting the new tests prefer “opt out,” but district and state officials we spoke to were more likely to use the term “parent refusal.” We’ll let Harry Bull, superintendent of the Cherry Creek School District, explain the difference in his view: “My understanding is there is nothing in statute or federal regulations that provide an opt-out. The word does not exist. There’s obviously nothing that would prohibit a parent from refusing that their child do something. There is a real important distinction there. Opt-out, I would argue, suggests that behavior is condoned, that itap somehow or other available. With parental refusal, I don’t have to give parents permission to make a decision for their children. It becomes what a parent chooses to do. That takes some of the focus, if you will, off the school or the school district to make sure they are not breaking the law. I can unequivocally say we are going to follow the law. That is what we should do. If I am providing an opt-out, it sounds as if I am almost culpable.” Here is a link to our story on … .
We’ve contacted districts that are opt-out/refusal hot spots but early data is scarce. The Boulder Valley School District provided this on its high schools, where non-participation rates are typically higher:
Boulder Valley HS students skipping : Fairview (82% of students), Boulder (65), Centaurus (23), Monarch (17), Broomfield (4).
— Eric Gorski (@egorski)
A sidebar to the opt-out story covered Aurora educator Peggy Robertson’s stance The comments on the story are filled with support for Robertson.
The state Department of Education reported isolated technological issues with the PARCC rollout this week but was positive about how things went overall. The tiny Sheridan district on the southwest flank of Denver .
Some interesting comments from student protest leaders who spoke at a Chalkbeat Colorado forum this week …
student: testing system does oppress poor, black, and brown schools.
— Nic Garcia (@nicgarcia)
student says her school discouraged walkout, compares to school board who brought their students donuts.
— Nic Garcia (@nicgarcia)
said a walkout in small rural town wouldn’t make a difference so they took to the web.
— Nic Garcia (@nicgarcia)
students say their protest helped lead the way to testing task force recommending dumping senior tests.
— Nic Garcia (@nicgarcia)
In other news, the sole bipartisan student data privacy bill this year, Senate Bill 173, on Thursday, but not before an amendment backed by Republicans and activist mothers caused some friction. Has anyone coined the term “Mommy Lobby?” If not, consider this first use for trademark purposes. There is a lot of momentum behind seeing this bill through in a session of shared governance, but expect more tinkering as the process moves forward.
Legislators and budget writers decided they .
Denver Public Schools . DPS officials believe they were victims of an e-mail phishing scam.
on how universities are now losing the stigma over providing financial aid to students in the country illegally or with temporary deferred action status (a subject our Yesenia Robles ).
The Alabama Supreme Court , another version of a school choice voucher, are constitutional. Here at home, eyes are turned to the Colorado Supreme Court, which and could release a ruling any time.
Also around metro Denver, Joanne Davidson has a story pegged to .
The Watch DOGS of Jeffco (Anya Semenoff, The Denver Post).
Finally, we have mentioned moms. Here’s something on dads: Joe Vaccarelli of YourHub features that are part of Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students), a national program that gets fathers into schools to support education and safety.
Check The Denver Post this weekend for an in-depth story about the debut of PARCC tests. We’re also putting together an online-only Q-and-A about the tests. Have a question you feel hasn’t been answered, or curious about anything PARCC-related? Write me at egorski@denverpost.com or .
