My head is swimming in disbelief. Alpine School District is the first district in the state to publish a Common Core test opt-out form and make it available to all parents in the school district. It’s a simple one page form. Unfortunately I can’t locate it on their website, but I was sent a copy from a parent in the district. It’s official and I’ve confirmed it with Board member Wendy Hart. Congratulations Alpine School District. Thank you for listening.
Download a pdf:ASD Sage Opt Out Form
Computer Adaptive Testing & Common Core – 2014-01-29
Many of the postings on Utahns Against Common Core (UACC) talk about “Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT)” being an integral part of Common Core. “Computer testing” seemed clear enough, but the term “adaptive” as applied to testing was less clear. The dictionary says adaptive means “usable, able to be adjusted for use in different conditions”. Everyone’s familiar with assisting students with special needs, in various ways, take a test who need “accommodation”. But “adaptive” seems to imply that, after any necessary accommodation, the test adjusts/modifies itself to “adapt” to the student’s performance. Are students at opposite ends of the performance spectrum getting different tests and similar scores?
I was unable to find any specific information on the UACC site as to how CAT adapted to different students, but I did find some Common Core documents that described this process in detail and it totally blew me away! I don’t know if many of us opposed to Common Core know the truth about CAT.
Basically, a good number of questions are written covering content that has been taught. The questions are then graded from very easy to very hard. When student A takes the test, if he starts getting wrong answers, the testing program “adapts” to the student’s performance and offers progressively easier questions until the student can provide correct answers. If student B takes the test and starts answering questions correctly, the testing program again “adapts” to this student’s differing performance by offering progressively harder questions until he starts to answer incorrectly. The testing program is designed to create a world where all students achieve a passing score of 50% on every test, meaning that each student will pass every course he takes, and each student will graduate in the top of his class, from every school he (or more likely the government) chooses to attend.
In a world that revolves around test scores, CAT seems poised to turn the world upside-down. When the lower-performing students achieve the same scores (50%) as the higher-performing students because the testing is “fixed” beforehand to guarantee equal outcomes, what purpose does testing serve? This is probably my own dated interpretation, but it seems to me testing is supposed to measure the value of teaching, along with each individual’s effort and ability to learn and perform. It seems to me that CAT defeats the original purposes of testing, in order to predetermine the fraudulent appearance of equality of education outcomes.
Individual teachers, school districts, or state school boards can be made to look better or worse than they really are, merely by resetting the desired outcome testing scores up or down. By controlling the CAT outcome dial, there is little doubt that CAT scores will improve wherever Common Core has been implemented. Other notable achievements now possible with CAT score manipulation gives the appearance of satisfying the broader ideology of “social justice” which incorporates most forms of “outcome equality”, including the much talked about “income equality”. With CAT we will now have the appearance of documented “education outcome equality”, “teacher excellence equality”, and reduced educational disparity, all due to the supposed brilliance of Common Core.
You’ve made an egregious error in your summary–students who are given progressively harder questions because they are performing at a higher level will receive a higher score than those who don’t answer questions accurately.
Thanks for replying David. Can you explain in detail how this works? Because Bruce is correct that essentially, both students will get the same number correct. So how is difficulty scored? It’s not even a fair comparison based on a number correct. In NY when these tests were administered, it caused enormous amounts of stress for students and caused some to get very ill, vomit, or be hospitalized. The NY Teachers Union just announced they want out of Common Core, in large part due to these tests.
I think Bruce is correct on all students receiving 50%. When I went to a USOE SAGE meeting for my school district, Judy Park was there presenting. She told all the parents the essentially the same thing Bruce said. The tests are designed to bring the higher students down and the lower students up so all are equal and receive 50% on the tests. Some students may have a 15 minute test and some an hour depending on how they answer.
On parent in the meeting expressed concerned over how her A student would feel at only get 50%. Judy’s response was A students will just have to get used to not getting 100%. Not really sure how this is beneficial to students that strive to do their best.
You’re right Amy. Here’s the detailed report by someone in attendance at that meeting.
https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/logan-school-district-airsage-meeting/
The Agenda of Common Core is NOT about Education…it is about Control.
Once Communist Core is embedded into the foundations of American Education, the States, School boards, Parents, and Children will not have any Control of what is taught in American Schools. Once they have Control of Education, the Socialists and Educrats in Washington D.C. will morph education into what THEY think YOUR children SHOULD learn…Socialism. Communism.
If Common Core Lives, Freedom Dies.
http://www.killcommoncore.com
at what age/Grade does the CAT testing start?
Does anyone know where this form needs to be submitted? At the school or district?
Take it to the school and ask the principal to sign it and give you a copy.
I signed these for my children, but in the line under the Alpine School District logo, “Educating All Students to Ensure the Future of Our Democracy”, I highlighted the word Democracy and underneath I wrote, We’re a Republic, idiots!