One out of five New York students ditched the state’s spring standardized reading and math exams for grades 3-8, the result of a boycott staged by fed-up parents.
Nearly 200,000 refused to sit for the exams, “which are used to measure skills and knowledge and determine proficiency,” the New York Post reports.
“Of the more than 1 million students eligible, 18% opted out of the English Language Arts exam and 17% skipped the math assessment, according to the figures from the state Education Department (SED),” the outlet, which reviewed test data, stated.
Suburban parents — especially those in Long Island, where, according to The Post, “boycott rates were sky high” — stood in opposition to what they believe is too much testing.
Excessive testing, critics have long claimed, results in a narrowed curriculum and “teaching to the test.”
Jeanette Brunelle Deutermann, founder of the group Long Island Opt Out, was “beyond happy” with Long Island’s resolve.
“I am beyond happy to see that 45% of Long Island families with kids in grades 3-8 [overall] still understand the importance of standing up and refusing to participate in the 3-8 exams,” she wrote in a Facebook post, adding that “45% know that this type of standardized testing is detrimental to the learning environment in their children’s schools. 45% know that these tests are not created or administered to improve learning outcomes, and take away precious time and resources from those things that enrich their child’s learning experience.”
“More than half of students in over two dozen New York school districts refused to take the tests — nearly all of them on Long Island,” The Post reports.
A now-halted “Common Core” curriculum and canceled exams during the COVID pandemic are largely to blame for the opposition to the exams.
When sitting for the exams became voluntary in 2021, only 42% of students opted to take them.
Ray Domanico is the director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. He believes it comes down to “trust.”
“What the state needs to do is to listen more to parents and rebuild trust in schools and in state policy toward schools,” he told The Post.
Districts can use the exam results to see if the schools are meeting learning standards, but they cannot, according to state rules, rely on them exclusively to decide which teachers deserve promotions.
“To try to punish districts or schools for parents refusing the test would just make matters worse and convince some parents that the state education officials don’t care what they think,” Domanico said.
Though the SED noted in a statement to The Post that “there are no consequences” for students who opt out of the exams, they stressed that the tests do have their benefits.
“Ultimately, in all districts, test scores provide valid information for students who participate, regardless of the overall rate. Results from the tests help identify achievement gaps among different student populations,” the SED said. “Without widespread participation in the tests, it is more difficult for school and district leaders to recognize these gaps and provide support and resources to the students who need them.”
On X, many felt the refusal to sit for the exams has less to do with “excessive testing” and more to do with the fact that the kids aren’t able to pass them.
“Good way to save themselves the embarrassment of bombing it,” wrote one user, “because they don’t learn anything but social justice anymore in school.”
Good way to save themselves the embarrassment of bombing it because they don’t learn anything but social justice anymore in school.
— Bertram (Burt) Gummer (@DInkshak) December 31, 2023
Others felt the exams wouldn’t make a difference anyway.
There are no standards anymore so why not
— Screaming Mime (@Kabuki_Dookie) December 31, 2023
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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