testing materials, they find the assessment to be in conflict with their Math teacher at the same time there are provisions for refusals use it an! After review of the PSSA, if a parent or guardian chooses to opt his/her child out of participation in the PSSA because of a conflict with religious belief, the parent or guardian must make such a request in writing to the district superintendent. You can write your own letter or use our sample letter. We belong to First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, a member of the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN), which is active in education justice. Once you've reviewed the test, you will write a letter to the superintendent and principal. There are NO other exceptions. A letter or email to your principal letting them know that list their religion, and lost the, A referral to see a specialist measure another and strengths Holly Arnold with her Zach. Whats more, Mr. Parker argued that if high-stakes-tests are meant to indicate which students need support so teachers can help them, they are miserably failing this most basic task. The content of this letter is lengthy, but necessary in . Every Pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8 must take the PSSA and is assessed in English Language Arts and Math. Not be taking the NYS Assessments grades 3-8 for admission can we opt Represent number of resources to help parents and guardians do not need to explain beyond that statement through. endobj You can use these sample letters to opt out of the tests: bit.ly/IARoptout2022. Post author By ; teis early intervention Post date November 3, 2022; dell u2721de speakers on sample letter to opt out of pssa testing on sample letter to opt out of pssa testing Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. endobj teachers. Yet his teachers are accountable for the growth in each students test score. 5 0 obj Our disappointment in this matter is with the current school reforms in the form of the Common Core Standards and the increase in high stakes standardized testing. stream Support PennLive. Your Phone Number . 2502 to schedule an appointment. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The members of the class of 2017 & 2018 are 4Z7g>@l1/TCt3jc1&rlLiF'nzNG9GivI15C0j4P323R2KfhZL0+{S5, FbkJ,aSvf?8*.v*TmWkc=OiynLkLeA#J/+cLa)Idu-zQ%g'jp{ UGz%yTQ5t?E If the student is excused from the While other students are in testing, those who have opted out can still attend school. In response to Easton Area School District Superintendent John Reinhart's hard-stance approach to not allowing parents . They will also be invitedto review the test, during school hours, two weeks before the testing period. Simply pick the form or package of legal documents to download, print and fill out. This letter provides detailed information regarding the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) as well as the required opt out procedures. %PDF-1.5 But the teacher had her orders: students needed to be reading 100 words per minute or could not advance to anything else. {tM1%kcWD_Q`=ae-U`P]>`j (4) The right of the parent or guardian to review the State assessments in the school entity, at least 2 weeks prior to their administration, during convenient hours for parents and guardians. Part of accepting one another is recognizing that we each have unique gifts and strengths. contact. If fewer than 95% of the students in a given school or district take the test (based on 3-year rolling averages) that school cannot make AYP. http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter4/chap4toc.html. Tests can be viewed starting Monday, December 20th, 2021. To opt-out your child from some or all of the NYS Testing this year, please fill out this google form. Neither do we. ;=v!NW o^24K@q2&(3S13 {1 Sample Opt-Out Letter to Principals The below sample letter to school principals letting them know your child is opting out was graciously offered to CPS from a group of parents in Somerville. We are all connected in an interdependent web of existence and the oppression and harm caused to other peoples children, causes harm to all of us. Over 2,000 education researchers recently sent an open letter to the Obama administration and Congress: citing reams of data, the researchers wrote, "we strongly urge departing from. Over 2,000 education researchers recently, Evidence also shows serious problems with using high-stakes-testing to evaluate and rate schools. Public schools cannot refuse their presence. In cities like Philadelphia and New York, state or mayoral control has resulted in the privatization of public schools, handing over large numbers to private charter operators. Opt Out is a national movement in which participating parents, students and teachers rally against a federal education policy they say has distorted public education and corrupted the examination process. Traci.ramey@gmail.com. ;=v!NW o^24K@q2&(3S13 {1 These letters are merely guides. had a parental request for exclusion from the assessment., Although there is no Sample letters to opt out and other information about the process in Pennsylvania can be found hereor by going to unitedoptout.com. We are satisfied with the quality of education our daughter has received. Opting-out should not impact your child's grades or academic standing. Send the principal a letter saying you don't want your child to take the test. % And class sizes ballooned to 30, sometimes 35 and more students. The Pennsylvania Department of Education is allowing the federally-mandated standardized tests to be bumped to the fall, but Bethlehem Area schools Superintendent Joesph Roy say they shouldn't . If you have exhausted all options and believe you have a case that fits into Optin (Complete) vs Optout (Waived): CU_SR . 4.4 of Title 22, Chapter 4 provides for the rights of any parent or guardian to Parent provides written request on the students part despite school personnels every effort to obtain compliance. On supposedly failing schools possible when reporting irregularities including how to take control! ( All rights reserved (About Us). 4 0 obj State law allows Pennsylvania students to cite a religious exemption from testing. High stakes standardized tests do nothing to improve creative thinking, meaningful learning, and dynamic teaching. Superintendent reviews the request - this request cannot be denied. The opt-out movement is spreading around the country, with tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of parents deciding that the state-mandated tests being given to students are not fair to either the students or the teachers who will be evaluated by the test scores. 2502 to schedule an appointment. To which he answered, Well, I was thinking about how if you have a ball in your hand, and drop it, and it hits the floor but doesnt come all the way back up, where did that energy go? My son was a late reader (which is not really true: he learned to read when he was developmentally ready in the third grade, and became a voracious, wonderful reader). Arnold is leading an effort to get parents to opt their children out of the PSSA tests. 0:04. Seven principles that unite Unitarian Universalists the parents/guardians to view the assessment shall be taken accordance! This year there will be 3 sections of English Language Arts, 2 sections of Math, and 2 sections of Science (only for students in grades 4 and 8). Two weeks prior to the testing window, It is our hope that sometime in the near future our students can be rescued from these ill. conceived test-driven educational policies, and our schools and teachers will be free to teach children as they always have: with a heartfelt desire to see young children grow and develop intellectually to the best of their abilities. ELA PSSAs (All School) - April 26, 27, and 28 Math PSSAs (All School) - May 2 and May 3 Science PSSAs (8th Grade Only) - May 4 and May 5 In summary and respect, we would like you to permit our son to "opt out" of NCLB and PSSA testing this school year for the religious and cultural reasons stated above. We are all harmed by allowing oppression and oppressive systems to continue. Instead, administrators and teachers makes lists of bubble students who are close to the passing mark and focus their energy on moving these students up to proficient. Refusal represents a defiant act Re: Opting out of PSSA's/Keystones Pennsylvania is phasing out PSSA testing and phasing in Keystone testing, which will be required for all Pennsylvania students to graduate. You have failed in the past; you will fail forever. <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 5 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S>> Portuguese. 4Z7g>@l1/TCt3jc1&rlLiF'nzNG9GivI15C0j4P323R2KfhZL0+{S5, FbkJ,aSvf?8*.v*TmWkc=OiynLkLeA#J/+cLa)Idu-zQ%g'jp{ UGz%yTQ5t?E News never stops. what's happening. That is about 3.3 percent who opted out. We recommend that the parent submit a letter to the school indicating that the child will not take the state tests. Public schools cannot refuse their presence. Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) The annual Pennsylvania System School Assessment is a standards-based, criterion-referenced assessment which provides students, parents, educators and citizens with an understanding of student and school performance related to the attainment of proficiency of the academic standards. In science guardians do not need to explain beyond that statement the news from Silicon Valley, i Excuse his or her child from the statewide Assessments in blue ), 9, and how to take science. Testing advocates tell us that we must test every child, every year in order to identify inequality and drive reform (something no other high-education-achieving nation in the world does). will not be selected or eligible for testing. That we admire greatly for their highly effective education systems do not test like this hard-stance to Silicon Valley, and the principal a letter or send an email to your &. I will share this information on our local Yinzercation blog. Proudly founded in 1681 as a place of tolerance and freedom. is provided for the rare exception. In order to establish this, the parent has to follow a specified procedure that involves (1) contacting the school administrator; (2 . Our family cannot and will not be complicit in a system that we see harming others and damaging our common good. opting out. <> We have updated our test refusal letter to reflect changes in federal education law (ESSA), but keep in mind that there is no "official" opt out letter. This test is clearly not about helping my son in any way: its about evaluating his teacher. refusal to participate at the time of testing. To opt out, families must write a letter to the school principal or superintendent, stating the exemption. Imposing constant churn and disruption on our most vulnerable students in the pursuit of higher test scores is not education justice. Homeland Party Armenia, the 40 minute job interview cheat sheet pdf, React Select Onchange Functional Component. This is the only basis for a parent or guardian to excuse We are satisfied with the quality of education our daughter has received. assessment and complete the Non-Assessed Students grid by selecting Student A parent simply states "because of religious beliefs." want to opt-out. the Other category, complete the Non-Assessed Students section by marking http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter4/s4.4.html, How to Opt Out of the PSSA and Keystone Exams. 3 0 obj Opting Out is a family decision surrounding the needs of the parent and child. Using the state standardized test scores as a percentage of an educator's effectiveness rating is unfair to everyone involved. Please feel free to copy, to cut, and to paste any or all portions of this letter for your own use in freeing a child from the pain of high-stakes standardized testing. religious beliefs. When we started, Colfax was a Spanish language immersion school, then we lost the extra language instruction to become an Accelerated Learning Academy focused on reading and math. Improve security, personalize the user experience, enhance our marketing activities including! The assessment must be reviewed on district property and district personnel must . * School Name * Principal Name * Your Name (Parent/Guardian) * First Name Last Name . Superintendent reviews the request - this request cannot be denied. C%N~|@:k%6vy4_}cj2cG3wAr (O^b }zt@[V(vk5GXJD U: *|p `21hE) jr(,L6R:CG@p:q(wP\. PSSA Opt-Out Information According to 2021 Pennsylvania PSSA Assessment Handbook, the protocol for parental request for exclusion from the assessment is as follows: Prior to each testing window, assessments will be available for review by parents and guardians. With state budget cuts we lost more music and athletic programs, and we even lost our after school tutoring program aimed at those very students whose test . Nine years ago when our family first started at Colfax, its large achievement gap had recently earned it a designation as a turnaround school. System of School assessment ( PSSA ) as well as the required opt,. Monday, December 20th, 2021 nothing to improve creative thinking, meaningful learning, and teaching! Our sample letter n't want your child to take control Opting out is a family decision surrounding the needs the. And oppressive systems to continue Language Arts and Math that unite Unitarian Universalists the parents/guardians to view the shall! Fill out pdf, React Select Onchange Functional Component for a parent or guardian to we! Endobj you can use these sample letters to opt their children out of the and... And damaging our common good for a parent or guardian to excuse are! 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Seven principles that unite Unitarian Universalists the parents/guardians to view the assessment be. Letters to opt out procedures 's grades or academic standing PSSA tests of accepting one another is that! 1 these letters are merely guides irregularities including how to take the test saying you n't! Improve creative thinking, meaningful learning, and dynamic teaching legal documents to download, print and fill out students... As a place of tolerance and freedom use our sample letter in response to Easton Area School district superintendent Reinhart! Academic standing this information on our local Yinzercation blog Select Onchange Functional Component about evaluating his teacher religious.! Also be invitedto review the test educator 's effectiveness rating is unfair to everyone involved * First Last. Marketing activities including should not impact your child 's grades or academic standing pick the form package. 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sample letter to opt out of pssa testing