69´«Ă˝

Opinion
Assessment Opinion

Q&A: An Early Opt-Out Talks About School Without Tests

By Fred L. Hamel & Catherine Ross Hamel — June 09, 2015 5 min read
Fred and Catherine Hamel pose with their daughter, Teddi, who has completed 12 years of public schooling. She has earned an undergraduate degree in history and is now an outdoor educator with the international nonprofit organization Outward Bound.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, we opted out of mandated state testing for our two children. We both worked in public schools at the time and found ourselves living out the advent of the movement for high-stakes accountability. We saw up close the concerning effects of new testing pressures. Teachers began distrusting their own instincts, as the testing apparatus directed their focus elsewhere. 69´«Ă˝ along a normal spectrum, trying their best, were labeled inadequate. We saw teachers confronted with new data that consumed significant time without adding anything helpful or new to the work of teaching and learning.

In March 2003, we published a Commentary in Education Week clarifying our reasons for opting our children out. It was “not a decision we make lightly,” we said. We emphasized our right and responsibility as parents to “protect our children from activities not in their interests.”

We still feel this way, particularly as standardized tests are even more pervasive, more frequent, and used in unprecedented ways. We still believe that parents have a critical role to play in holding school systems accountable, especially in resisting simplified solutions that fail to serve the learning needs of children. We are not surprised that parents across the country are now voicing concerns similar to those we shared 12 years ago. In many ways, the Achilles’ heel of the high-stakes testing/accountability movement remains conscientious and informed parents—those motivated, as we wrote in 2003, “to preserve the best of what public schools have to offer our kids.”

BRIC ARCHIVE

This special collection of Commentaries reflects a range of perspectives on parents’ opting their children out of tests, from researchers who are studying the phenomenon, to parents who have long embraced testing boycotts, to teachers whose opinions on the subject vary widely.

This Commentary special section on parent empowerment is supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Education Week retained sole editorial control over the selection and editing of the content; the opinions expressed are those of the authors.

View the complete Commentary collection.

At the time, our daughter was 12 years old and our son was 9. Both went on to have positive experiences in our local public schools, and both have graduated from college. Our daughter, Teddi, is now 24 and currently works for Outward Bound as an outdoor educator. We recently had a conversation with Teddi about her perceptions of being opted out from state-mandated tests. As more families consider the pros and cons of new testing realities, we offer some of her observations here, as the voice of one young adult thinking back upon the experience of being opted out by her parents.

Fred/Catherine: What do you remember about opting out when you were younger?

Teddi: I do remember 3rd grade. I did a project on The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling, instead of doing the test, and I remember I was really into that. I was barely aware that testing was going on because I was in my own little corner, taking notes, and I think I chose the book and the project. I would have been 8 years old, so it might have been the first time I read a chapter book and annotated it, simply. I wasn’t just reading; I did something with the book. My teacher was very respectful and supportive. I wasn’t an outcast or anything. I was in the same room, and she just let me work. I later went to India as a college student, and I remembered that project. The Jungle Book takes place in India. It stayed with me, impacted me.

Commentary

Read “State-Mandated Testing: Why We Opt Out,” Fred L. Hamel and Catherine Ross Hamel’s 2003 Commentary on opting out.

Fred/Catherine: What impact do you think our family’s position on high-stakes testing had on you as a learner and as a classmate at the time?

Teddi: I don’t think it detracted from anything. I felt I did well in school regardless of the testing. At the time, my teachers seemed fine with it. I went on to work hard in high school, and I always felt that what I enjoyed and excelled in was rich curriculum like world history projects, reading books, and writing essays—things I got really engaged in and that had a lot of meaning. That’s the stuff I really cared about and did well on. All that is what eventually mattered in college—deeper connective thinking.

Fred/Catherine: You decided to take the standardized state test as a 10th grader. Tell us about that.

Teddi: I think that it was required then to graduate. And at that point, I don’t think I wanted to fight any battles that weren’t really mine. I didn’t feel super strongly that the tests were harming me in such a way that I should have to fight this huge system. I knew I could take the test and pass it, so I just took it, which, as a 10th grader, made sense. I also knew I would be taking the SAT and the ACT. To get into college, I would have to take some standardized tests. But it turns out that standardized-testing tools are really different. The SAT is different from the state test, so I don’t think that ended up having any bearing. I do remember sitting in Mr. G.'s 10th grade portable [classroom] during state testing thinking, “This is so bland.” I probably was a little nervous, but what I remember is a very sterile process. If it was now, I would love to challenge the system by not taking the test.

Fred/Catherine: Now, three years out of college, what thoughts do you have about how we managed state testing with you?

Teddi: I’m proud of it. Trying to be educated in the school system as it is, not even regarding testing, was hard, because so many aspects of public schooling are structure-oriented and not substance-oriented. Still, the learning I did was really good. But the tests were on the opposite side of that. I’m happy now because I think that what I gained from my education had nothing to do with tests. There are more holistic ways of helping and assessing students.

Fred/Catherine: Thinking about your adult future, what thoughts do you have about opting out?

Teddi: Working in outdoor education is so hands-on; you’re teaching social studies and biology and all these different topics along with human skills. After a month of intensive learning with students, you have a really good grasp of how to assess them and how to help them develop. It would be hard for me to be in classrooms with students I know really well and see them being assessed on this tiny little aspect of their performance. From my experience as a kid, the tests were so outside of what I usually did and what I loved about learning that it didn’t match. I think that if I were a parent, I would give my kids the choice, like you guys gave me the choice. Also, similar to you, I would want to take a stand against high-stakes testing. I would give my child that perspective.

Coverage of parent-empowerment issues is supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.
A version of this article appeared in the June 10, 2015 edition of Education Week as An Early Opt-Out

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69´«Ă˝
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Assessment Why the Pioneers of High School Exit Exams Are Rolling Them Back
Massachusetts is doing away with a decades-old graduation requirement. What will take its place?
7 min read
Close up of student holding a pencil and filling in answer sheet on a bubble test.
iStock/Getty
Assessment Massachusetts Voters Poised to Ditch High School Exit Exam
The support for nixing the testing requirement could foreshadow public opinion on state standardized testing in general.
3 min read
Tight cropped photograph of a bubble sheet test with  a pencil.
E+
Assessment This School Didn't Like Traditional Grades. So It Created Its Own System
Principals at this middle school said the transition to the new system took patience and time.
6 min read
Close-up of a teacher's hands grading papers in the classroom.
E+/Getty
Assessment Opinion 'Academic Rigor Is in Decline.' A College Professor Reflects on AP Scores
The College Board’s new tack on AP scoring means fewer students are prepared for college.
4 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week