Parent Wants Genuine Right to Boycott the NCLB Tests

As parent who would like to opt my child out of the test, I am appalled

that Superintendent O'Connell would twist the classification of the NCLB

rules. He doesn't want schools penalized by not having 95%

participation, so students who have parent waivers will be labeled not

proficient so that schools can up their participation rate. California

gives everyone the right to opt out; the superintendent plans to

penalize your child if you do.  Below is his press release ( posted on

the Board website) and yesterday it was printed in the Contra Costa

Times. Read the guideline below and resist!

Nancy S

SCHOOLS CHIEF JACK O'CONNELL ANNOUNCES PROPOSED CHANGES TO

CALIFORNIA'S NCLB ACCOUNTABILITY WORKBOOK

Changes Will Apply NCLB Rules More Fairly to California Schools

     SACRAMENTO - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack

O'Connell today announced the first in a series of proposed changes to

California's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Accountability Workbook to make

the law more workable and apply it more fairly to schools in California.

     "I support the underlying purpose of NCLB, which is to ensure that

all children benefit from high standards and accountability," O'Connell

said. "High standards have guided our California system of

accountability long before NCLB. But there are parts of NCLB that are

overly inflexible, leading to inconsistent or unfair results for some of

our schools. Today, I am proposing changes that would make NCLB fairer,

more equitable and consistent."

     The Workbook is a blueprint that NCLB requires of each state,

outlining how the state will hold students, schools, and districts

responsible for meeting high academic standards under the federal

education law. Changes proposed today must be approved by the California

State Board of Education, and then by the federal Department of

Education.

     "The proposed changes will address inequities that can result from

parent's rights to opt out of state testing, the special circumstances

of small and rural schools, and the state's ability to obtain accurate

data to meet NCLB's demands for using specific indicators to measure

progress.

     The proposed changes include:

REMOVING THE PENALTY TO SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PARENTAL OP-OUTS

     "I want to remove the penalty against schools where parents do not

want their children to participate in state testing," O'Connell said.

"It concerns me that the Bush Administration apparently does not support

the rights of parents in this regard, because NCLB unfairly penalizes

those schools where parents exempt their children from testing."

     In California, parents have the right under state law to exempt

their children from participating in the statewide assessment system.

These schools may not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) because too

many parents exercised their right to exempt their children from testing

- not because of failure to improve student achievement.

     Under NCLB, a school where more than five percent of students don't

participate in testing - whether they are absent due to illness or

another reason, or their parents opt them out - do not meet AYP. Nearly

a quarter (24 percent) of all California schools, did not meet the

federal government's participation rates.

     O'Connell is proposing that when greater than five percent of

students don't participate in testing, rather than the school

automatically failing to met AYP, the school be allowed to consider

those students who have opted out of participating with an assigned

performance level of "not proficient."

     "This will avoid unfairly penalizing a school, while still

encouraging the maximum participation in the statewide assessment

program." O'Connell said.

ESTABLISHING A NEW PARTICIPATION RATE RULE FOR SMALL SUBGROUPS, SCHOOLS,

AND DISTRICTS

     O'Connell is also proposing to establish a new participation rate

for small subgroups, schools, and districts, to avoid situations where a

small school may fail to meet AYP because of a single absent student.

     Under the revision, a subgroup or district with enrollment of fewer

than 100 students would be considered to have met its participation rate

criteria if fewer than five students in a content area are not tested.

The students who were not tested would be assigned a performance level

of "not proficient" in the calculation of the school's annual measurable

objectives.

DEFINING A MINIMUM SUBGROUP SIZE FOR DISTRICTS THAT IS DIFFERENT THAN

THAT FOR SCHOOLS

     O'Connell is proposing to address a third problem with NCLB that

has resulted in several instances where a district did not meet Adequate

Yearly Progress, but all of the schools in the district did. To correct

this inconsistency, the California Department of Education proposes to

increase the minimum subgroup size for districts so that the average

number of subgroups per district would be consistent with the average

number of subgroups per school.

STREAMLINING STATEWIDE REPORTING BY RELEASING RESULTS ON ALL AYP

COMPONENTS AT ONCE: PARTICIPATION RATE, ANNUAL MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES,

API AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE.

     To avoid confusion about school progress, O'Connell is proposing to

release all the indicators at the same time, in late August. This would

streamline statewide reporting and is aimed at reducing confusion about

a school or district's AYP status.

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JACK O'CONNELL- STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE - ROOM 5206 - 916/319-0818 - (FAX) 916/319-0111