By: Hellen Zaboulani

Thousands of parents of school students in New York have staged a revolt against standardized testing.  As reported by the NY Post, during Spring testing close to 200,000 students — or one out of five students in school grades 3-8 — refused to take the state’s standardized reading and math exams.  There are over 1 million students in the state eligible for the testing.  Of these, some 18% opted out of the English Language Arts tests, while 17% skipped the math exams, per the data from the state Education Department (SED).  The state doesn’t currently penalize students or school districts who opt not to take the exams.  The testing is used to assess knowledge and skills and also determines a school’s  proficiency.

The boycott rates were highest in NY’s suburbs, especially Long Island.  “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,” wrote Jeanette Brunelle Deutermann, founder of the group Long Island Opt Out, in a recent post on Meta (formerly Facebook). “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,” she added.  New York City’s 31 school districts had much lower refusal rates, with most schools seeing less than 10% of students opting out of the standardized tests.

Per the Post, parents and critics have long been opposed to what they call excessive testing, and have claimed the assessments lead to narrower curriculum and “teaching to the test.” The test boycotts are part of the broader parents’ rights movement — which ballooned in recent years, and which includes contentious topics including: options for homeschooling, charter schools and vouchers; what should be taught as part of the curriculum; transgender student rights; and remote learning options.  The revolt goes hand in hand with parents’ opposition to the “Common Core” curriculum, launched by the NYS Board of Regents and the SED a decade ago, with the aim of bolstering standards.  Testing took a back seat with the pandemic, being cancelled in 2020 and made voluntary in 2021, with just 42% of students taking the exams in 2021.

“What the state needs to do is to listen more to parents and rebuild trust in schools and in state policy toward schools,” said Ray Domanico, director of education policy at conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute.  “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,” said Domanico.

The SED brushed off the boycott, saying that the participation rate actually improved slightly compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 20% of students refused to take the standardized ELA exams and 22% skipped out of the math exam.  In a statement, the department reiterated that “there are no consequences” for opting out of the tests, but said the department encourages the exams as it helps see where students stand.  “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 statement said.