words “sincerely held” and requiring parents to initial a
statement that reads, “The term ‘religious beliefs’ means
religious, moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right
and wrong that are sincerely held with the strength of
traditional religious convictions. Merely wishing to avoid
testing, or having political or social objections to testing
not based on sincerely held religious belief, do not meet the
requirements for the exemption.”
“Being able to constrain and specify what a religious
belief is — that’s not really something the district is
competent to do or legally allowed to do,” Rosiek says.
“That’s all language they added to the law, not what the
law actually says.”
Delf says that 4J staff wrote the opt-out form in a joint
process, and staff members consulted with ODE to learn
more about circumstances in which parents could opt their
children out of testing.
Rosiek emphasizes that parents should not be afraid to
excuse their children from testing just because they don’t
sit in a pew or attend a mosque — parents can define
“religious belief” in whatever way they see fit.
Testing or Else
At Edison Elementary School, Rosiek says,
misinformation abounded. He says rumors circulated that
neighborhood property values could drop as a result of
too many children opting out of Smarter Balanced, or the
state could reduce funding or shut the school down — all
absolutely untrue, he says.
Rosiek says he asked the parent council at Edison to
share information on opting out with other parents and
they refused, so he scheduled four information sessions for
parents and teachers who had questions about the test and
opting out of it. Shortly after, 4J released its online opt-out
form.
But on its form, the 4J school district does emphatically
caution against opting out of testing, devoting half a page
to the consequences of not taking the test. Reasons listed
include a loss of information (not to the student, necessarily,
FERN RIDGE HIGH
SCHOOL TEACHER
GEOFF BARRETT
It’s very unlikely that local schools would see state
intervention, Rosiek says, and federal intervention is
even more unlikely. According to the U.S. Department
of Education, Oregon has a waiver from the No Child
Left Behind Act protecting the state from any federal
recrimination for a school testing under 94.5 percent of its
population.
Oregon is one of 41 states that has this waiver, as No
Child Left Behind is largely obsolete. According to a
2014 NPR article, No Child Left Behind declared that,
nationally, all students should have reached proficiency in
state assessments last year. Clearly, that didn’t happen.
And if the state notices a massive decline in test
participation? Maybe that’s not such a bad thing, Rosiek
says, adding that no matter how much the state wants
to have the information provided by testing, parents
can decide they don’t want it to be gathered, raising the
conversation to a higher level.
Making a Statement
but to the state), a lack of exposure to standardized tests
that a student will encounter later in life and a drop in
school rating.
Delf explains that schools receive yearly state ratings,
Level 1 being the lowest and Level 5 being the highest.
Schools must meet participation minimums of 94.5 percent
for state testing, and if more than 5.5 percent of any student
subgroup or the population in total do not participate in the
test, that school’s state rating could get knocked down a
level after it happens two years in a row.
“For businesses or parents looking at schools, a lot of
people will look at a school’s rating and may not look a
lot farther than that,” she says, adding that South Eugene
High School is an example. “They’re a Level 3 this year
because of participation, and that has implications for how
the school is perceived. If a school gets lowered down to a
Level 1 school, there could be some follow-up and scrutiny
from the state.”
“This is the year that this movement will really get
underway in 4J,” Caron says. “I think the wheels are going
to come off the cart more than the district realizes. When
OAKS [Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills] first
started, it was a train wreck. I anticipate there’s going to be
similar stuff happening this time.”
Rosiek, who spoke about standardized testing at City
Club of Eugene on Feb. 20, says it’s not his intent to
persuade parents in one direction or another, just to inform.
“It is my opinion that the public is best served when there
is as much information circulating as possible, including
opposing viewpoints,” he says. “Our only concern is that
parents don’t have the decision made for them by people
who are withholding the information from them.”
The deadline to opt children out of state testing is
March 30 or two weeks before the test is scheduled. Those
interested in learning more can see 4J’s opt-out form at
wkly.ws/1yh and can visit the Eugene Parents Concerned
about Testing Facebook page. ■
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eugeneweekly.com • February 26, 2015
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