Students Continue Opting Out of Common Core Math Tests

Students are still opting out of the state Common Core tests. The math test, which began testing Wednesday, still saw numerous refusals from several students in different districts, similar to what happened to the English Language Arts (ELA) test administered last week.

In April last year, about one in five New York state students opted not to take the tests, reports lohud. This year, although the rates of opt-outs improved in some cases, the number remains at a generally similar level despite the changes that have been applied to it.

Slight Changes

This year, reports from different school districts showed slight increases in the number of students not opting out. In Putnam Valley, for example, 38.5 percent of students - 295 out of 766 - opted out of the math testing. This is slightly higher than last year's 38. In Nanuet, the number of students refusing to take the math testing reached an overall rate of nearly 31 percent, which is slightly higher than last year's rate.

Hopes for The Test

Coalition group High Achievement New York executive director, Stephen Sigmund said that the exams help in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of students in schools, adding that his group hopes that the test will become effective and reflective of what's really going on inside schools

"We're hopeful that the progress goes forward to improving the tests and becomes less of a vitriolic conversation and more about compromise and about what's happening in the classroom," Sigmund said.

"It's really the primary mechanism in the state for identifying equity gaps and achievement gaps and without it you wouldn't have any data on that," he added. "And it's becoming, as you get older, an important part of preparing for what will be the high-stakes test of the Regents and college entrance exams."

Some parents, on the other hand, are wary of why their child has to go through the standardized tests. After all, they say, every child has a different makeup, and not all are the same.

"I don't know if I agree with the way curriculum is so much geared towards standardized tests. I believe that the child's aptitude comes through in all ways," Charlie Kaufman, the father of a P.S. 24 student, told the Riverdale Press.

What do you think? Should students opt-out from taking the standardized Common Core tests? Share your opinion in the comments section below.