“Younger kids are over-tested, with third and fourth-graders learning material suited for high schoolers.”
Statements like the one above are constantly being quoted by parents. However, the statement above was quoted specifically from a teacher, not a parent. The opt-out movement is a debate that overlaps from the parents’ side to the teachers’ side, and both parties seems to be on the same page: Common Core has not been for the better.
The intention of the Common Core tests was to use students to evaluate teachers who had never taught this material before. Common Core testing took place throughout the month of April, with the ELA tests a week prior to the math portion. Long Island saw an overwhelming majority of students opt out of the tests, with many districts reporting more than 50 percent of students eligible to take the tests choosing not to do so. Rocky Point saw the highest percentage of students opting out, with nearly 80 percent for both the ELA and math tests. Plainedge, Shoreham-Wading River and Patchogue-Medford were not far behind. This pattern of a majority of students saying ‘no’ to tests could continue, and even grow. At this time last year, the highest percentage of kids in any one district opting out was only 30 percent.
The problem lies not in the students’ ability to learn the material, but rather the way it is taught. The consensus of teachers seems to be that even though a majority of students are not comprehending the material, it needs to be taught. It’s hard to speak up to a government that isn’t understanding of the abilities of children, and the limitations it is setting on how a teacher can teach. Education is at a point where teachers are teaching to a test, and although it has been there for a while, it matters all the more now as a challenging curriculum tests a teacher’s ability to instruct. Teachers are at a point where it is easier to teach a standard AP curriculum than a standard Common Core curriculum because AP teachers are teaching to a test in their own, unique way that is not mandated by a higher authority. The opt-out movement has set the stage for further protests by not only parents, but teachers as well.
Jacob Dolinger is a junior at Plainedge High School
