PARCC testing concerns, School District admits mistake
PARCC testing is stirring up considerable controversy and right now lawmakers in Maryland are in the process of deciding whether the state needs to review this type of standardized testing, which is based on the common core curriculum.
For those who are not familiar with PARCC testing, it’s an assessment of a student’s knowledge and the school district says it helps educators determine college readiness and where a student might need help.
Concerned parents who want their kids to be able to refuse this type of testing reached out to 47 ABC over one school district’s questionable response to their request. So we investigated, and exposed a glaring mistake.
Parents Kimberly McAllister and Erica Colbert tell 47 ABC they felt they were misled by administrators in the Worcester County School District after they received a document titled “Policy on Required State Assessments” that stated “students may not opt out of the PARCC assessment”.
From the Worcester County Board of Education seal to the names of all the board members, the document appeared to be believable. 47 ABC spoke with parent Kimberly McAllister who tells us, “It made my hand shake.”
The document was written and sent out by interim accountability specialist, Karen Baker, who the school district says never got approval from the school board. After receiving the letter on March 4th, McAllister tells 47 ABC that she and her daughter got no further response from the school district. So she came to 47 ABC to get answers.
McAllister tells 47 ABC, “The best way to go against a bully is to speak out and shine light on it so that’s what I plan to do, that’s what I’m doing.”
In the document it states the school district “does not have an opt-out policy because such an option would violate the law”, but federal law only mandates that public schools administer accountability testing, like PARCC to all students in all testing grades. It does not say that students cannot refuse the test.
47 ABC approached the school district for clarification and after a series of questions discovered this unapproved document was found to be inaccurate the day after it was sent out. But even 20 days later he parents were still not notified.
The Worcester County school district released this statement to 47 ABC:
“An unapproved, unofficial document on PARCC administration was distributed to two Worcester County Public School parents on or near March 4. The school system learned that this document had been distributed after being contacted by Fran Gebhart. Although Mr. Gebhart was notified that the document was not official, the two parents who had originally received it were not notified that the document had inaccuracies. This was a mistake. The parents will be contacted and this matter will be addressed with them.
“The Interim Accountability Coordinator is now aware of protocol.”
Even after the apology, McAllister tells 47 ABC, “You don’t turn around and do a 180 and just come out with an apology. You did it because you were forced to. It took this much for me to get an apology and I don’t know that it is a real apology.”
The school district tells 47 ABC the interim accountability specialist is new to her job and took over the position in December. As far as repercussions we’re told Karen Baker has been made aware of proper protocols on drafting policy.
If a student were to refuse to take the exam, at least in Worcester County we’re told they still have to log onto the testing computer and accept a zero grade for the assessments. This does not affect their final grades and that’s another reason, parents like Kimberly McAllister are so fired up over this. This is also why those who oppose the testing say it’s a waste considering all the time spent preparing students to take the tests.
