PARCC opt-out numbers down

In APS, most NM districts, fewer students refused to take the test

Resistance to the controversial PARCC test appears to have slowed in Albuquerque Public Schools.

This spring, 1,561 APS students refused to take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers vs. 3,307 in 2015, the first time New Mexico required the exam. That translates to 3 percent of the roughly 50,000 eligible students skipping the test this year.

Overall, it has been a quiet testing season across the state. There were no large-scale anti-PARCC demonstrations, unlike last year, when more than 1,000 students walked out of their schools to protest the Common Core-aligned exams.

Opt-outs are down in most New Mexi-

co districts. APS’ neighbor, Rio Rancho Public Schools, received around 50 refusals in 2016, compared with 160 in 2015.

Rose-Ann McKernan, executive director of the APS Office of Accountability and Reporting, believes families are feeling more comfortable with PARCC, which measures math and English Language Arts competency in grades 3-11.

“We heard a lot from the students last year that once they got in there and started taking the test, they found out it wasn’t as scary as they thought it was going to be,” she said.

APS, like Rio Rancho, asks parents to talk to a school administrator before they pull their child from testing, and McKernan believes those conversations can correct misconceptions.

Still, the Board of Education “feels strongly that parents have a right to make certain educational decisions for students, and the decision to participate in testing is one of those,” she said.

A number of board members have openly said that PARCC is too long, too difficult and too “high stakes” because results are tied to teachers’ evaluations.

This fall, with the board’s backing, APS administrators created an online “opt-out kit” in six languages, including Arabic and Farsi, which gives parents easy access to the information.

Other districts take a tougher approach on testing. Farmington and Las Cruces won’t allow students to opt out unless they have a valid medical reason. RRPS administrators permit “refusals” but don’t think there really is a right to pull children from exams.

PED spokesman Robert McEntyre said testing is critical because it provides “a more accurate picture of how kids are doing in school.”

“We’re pleased to see that more New Mexico students are getting their progress measured so we can identify those who are struggling and get them the help they need,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

National rates

A recent analysis from the Education Writers Association looked at the movement’s strength in 2015.

The EWA review, “Opt Out 2.0: Snapshot of Spring Testing Season,” cited data from the Council of the Great City Schools showing that nearly every large metropolitan area had about 1 percent of its students refuse testing in 2015.

Albuquerque, at around 6 percent in 2015, is among a handful of “notable exceptions” along with Rochester (20 percent), Buffalo (15 percent) and Portland, Ore. (3 percent).

New York and Oregon do not use PARCC — the analysis looked at testing data for whatever standardized exam the state administers.

An April report from Educational Testing Service, “Opt-Out: An Examination of Issues,” took a state-by-state look at 2015 opt-out rates and found the highest percentages in New York (20 percent), Rhode Island (11 percent) and Colorado (10.5 percent). New Mexico was at just under 5 percent.

ETS also explored the opt-out movement’s demographics and found that it is dominated by middle- or upper-class Anglo families.

In Albuquerque, Bandelier Elementary School, located in affluent Nob Hill, had the highest rate of test refusals at 30.84 percent, as well as the largest number overall, 95. Next by percentage was San Antonito Elementary School in Sandia Park at 24.69 percent and 40 overall, then Monte Vista Elementary School near the University of New Mexico campus, 24.42 percent and 63 overall.

ETS mentions a 2015 Gallup poll that reveals very different views of testing across racial lines.

The survey showed that 55 percent of Anglo parents “considered test scores either very or somewhat important for measuring the effectiveness of their community schools,” compared with 61 percent of Hispanic parents and 72 percent of black parents.

“The summary above should make clear that opt out is a complicated, politically charged issue made more so by its social class and racial/ ethnic associations,” the ETS report concludes.