NJ Education Report

Here’s a new poll out from Education Next which, among other things, confirms the lack of parent and teacher support for the “opt-out movement.”

Only a quarter of the public supports the opt-out movement, the survey found. Among parents, 52 percent dislike the idea of letting parents decide whether their children are tested, while 57 percent of teachers are opposed.

The majority of those polled also support a federal requirement for annual standardized testing. For a summary of poll results, see Ed Week.

For more analysis, Andy Rotherham describes the political awkwardness around the opt-out movement’s lack of diversity. Most opt-outers are white and well-off, more “Whole Foods than community empowerment.” Nonetheless, the movement is a threat unless educators and policy folk work hard on more transparent communication about the purpose of annual standardized testing,

He concludes,

The opt-out “movement” is a hodgepodge of interests including genuinely concerned parents, professional activists, chronic malcontents, teachers union lackeys, and the teachers unions themselves. The teachers union motivation here – and by extension their so far instrumental support for opt-outs – is a remarkable abdication of professional responsibility, especially given the challenges and opportunities facing the education sector today. Until more education leaders and officials are willing to talk forthrightly about that, and the constellation of difficult issues that flow from assessments, they’re part of a charade and are getting the opt-out movement they deserve.