Some area students opt out of taking tests

While most area students sat down this week to take standardized tests, many others refused to take the exams.

Even though local school officials consider passing the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or PARCC tests to be the easiest of three paths to graduation, some parents have opted their children out of taking the tests.

"It's their decision and their right," Fort Recovery High School Principal Jeff Hobbs said. "But I do my best to explain to them that the tests are the easiest avenue to graduation."

2015 is the first full year for PARCC tests. The tests are issued in grades 3-8 and have also replaced the Ohio Graduation Tests in high school. The tests are based on controversial Common Core educational standards.

More than 100 Fort Recovery students opted out of the tests this year, Hobbs said. Only five of those opting out were high school students, he added.

Hobbs believes the students recognize passing the test is likely the best way to get a diploma despite any controversy around the PARCC exam.

The Ohio Department of Education is still finalizing details on two other ways to earn a diploma, school officials said.  

"The other two ways to graduate would be to earn an industry-level accreditation, something we don't currently offer but are working on, or (students) can earn a remediation-free score on the ACT or SAT. Those scores aren't impossible to get but it would still be a challenge to get them," he said.

Other area districts saw a large number of students opt out as well. In New Bremen, 75 students - including 26 in high school - opted out of the testing. Marion Local had 145 students opt out, with 26 of those at the high school.

Sarah Lewis, of Celina, supports parents who opt their children out of standardized testing. Many parents are fed up and think legislators are not making decisions in students' best interest, Lewis said. She is the administrator of the Operation Opt Out Ohio Facebook page, which has reached 2 million people, Lewis said.

"I don't think this issue is just going to go away," she said.

"A friend of mine is a teacher. She was explaining to me that some of the skills being tested are not even aligned to the standards that we are teaching. Kids are being tested on something that they have never even learned," Lewis said.

Lewis has opted her own children out of taking the tests. Test preparation, practice tests and the actual testing sessions take too much time away from classroom instruction, according to Lewis.

In Celina, administrators recognize some parents oppose PARCC testing and district officials are working to create other viable options.

High school principal Phil Metz reiterated what Hobbs said about industry credentials being difficult to obtain at this time.

"Celina currently does not offer credentialing in any of the industry areas determined by the state, but we are looking to work toward that," he said.

Very few students have opted out of the testing in the district, Metz said. The district did not count how many students refused to take the test, he said.

Other districts also reported relatively low opt-out numbers. Coldwater had 17 students refuse to take the tests, St. Marys had 10, Minster had 15, Parkway had 15 and St. Henry had seven.

St. Marys Memorial High School Principal Bill Ruane believes parents should be cautious about opting their children out of testing.

"At the high school level if a student opts out, it takes away one of the three pathways or options under the new graduation requirements for freshmen to graduate in the state of Ohio," Ruane said. "I have had honest conversations with a few parents and explained to them the implications this could have for their child."

Ruane said the standards are still unclear for other two avenues to a diploma.

"Those two options are still waiting clarification. So, even though the state isn't punishing students who opt out, it takes away the clearest pathway to meet the new graduation requirements at this time," he said.

The local school officials said students who opted out of testing spent the week either working on homework in the testing rooms or going about their normal class schedule.