Opt Out South Carolina 101

What is Opt Out?

Opt Out South Carolina is a support network for parents who have decided to refuse state standardized testing for their children in an effort to raise awareness about the negative impact that high stakes testing has on public education and to advocate for policy change. 

The tests we opted out of this year are the ACT Aspire and PASS tests, as well as the NCSC-Alt and SC-Alt for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

We oppose the use of state test scores to rate schools; evaluate teachers and principals; punish and close schools; and retain students.  South Carolina’s new statewide teacher evaluation model is tied to student test scores and will require additional testing to measure teacher effectiveness in every grade and class from 5K-12^th.

 

How Did Opt Out Start in South Carolina?

In 2011, several other South Carolina parents and I joined the national United Opt Out movement and began to raise awareness about high stakes testing through the formation of local Parents Across America advocacy groups.  As more parents became involved and wanted to find out how to refuse testing, Opt Out South Carolina was formed.

On a national and state level, the Opt Out movement more recently saw an increase in membership due to interest from parents who were concerned about the Common Core standards and the accompanying high stakes tests. 

This school year, Opt Out South Carolina also experienced significant growth as parents became aware of changes in the classroom.  Parents noticed a large amount of classroom time being spent on timed test prep; additional pressure on teachers and students; and a negative change in how their children felt about school. 

 

How Do You Opt Out?

When parents opt out, they send a letter to the principal stating their parental refusal for their children to participate in state testing.  On test days, these students attend school and work on assignments in a supervised area separate from the testing room.

Our Opt Out students do not receive a score on the tests, and no report is generated.  Since the tests are not used for grades, promotion, or retention, the “no score” does not affect a student’s academic record. 

The parent’s written refusal is attached to testing records for documentation, and the student’s nonparticipation is coded as a Parent Refusal in PowerSchool, pursuant to SC Department of Education (SCDE) guidelines.

 

Pushback?

This school year, after the SCDE issued two separate and conflicting directives to school districts concerning Opt Outs, some parents encountered difficulties with their school district honoring parental refusals.

The most extreme case was when Greenville County School District repeatedly attempted to administer tests to students who had written parental refusals on file and then issued disciplinary referrals when the students refused to take the tests.

 

Going Forward

The majority of our parental refusals were honored this year, and Opt Out South Carolina members plan to be involved in creating new local policy that will give all school districts clear and fair direction on how to respond to parental refusals of testing. 

Parents continue to receive misinformation from their local schools concerning how the test scores are used and how non-tested students are scored.  We are asking for transparency from our educational leaders, so that all SC families have the correct information about state testing.

Opt Out South Carolina is a diverse, nonpartisan group of parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens from all over the state who share a common interest in improving public education.  Our goal is to end high stakes testing so that all teachers may teach and all students may learn.

 

Sarah Johnson is the coordinator for Opt Out South Carolina and has been opting her own children out of state tests in Charleston County School District since 2011.  For more information about Opt Out South Carolina, send emails to CCShad@aol.com or visit Opt Out South Carolina on Facebook.