NJ Education Report

Here’s Alex Russo this morning:

As opt-out numbers grow, Arne Duncan says feds may have to step in ChalkbeatNY: On Tuesday, when asked whether states with many test boycotters would face consequences, Duncan said he expected states to make sure districts get enough students take the tests. “We think most states will do that,” Duncan said during a discussion at the Education Writers Association conference in Chicago. “If states don’t do that, then we have an obligation to step in.”

And here’s Save Our Schools-NJ’s FAQ sheet on repercussions of boycotting PARCC tests:

There is no federal or state law that requires penalties on schools if parents refuse to allow their children to take the PARCC tests. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law did include a mandate that required schools to have a 95 percent participation rate on state tests or face sanctions. However, missing the 95 percent participation rate at the school level has not been unusual in New Jersey. And no federal financial penalties related to Title I instructional funds have been imposed on any New Jersey school for missing that participation rate.

Two notes here: First, Save Our Schools-NJ is giving parents bad advice: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan confirmed yesterday that the federal government has “an obligation to step in” if states fall below the 95% bar for PARCC participation. Secondly, Save our Schools makes the important point that all its propaganda about the surge in test refusals is without historical context. How many parents kept their kids home on testing days last year? Or the year before? If the percentage is about 3%, then there’s been no increase at all this year in test refusals in elementary grades, and the surge is limited to high school students who, if they’re taking PSAT, SAT, or ACT standardized tests, are under no obligation to take PARCC.