Civil Rights Groups Say Opting Out Of Standardized Testing ‘Hurts Kids’

A coalition of civil rights groups issued a statement Tuesday condemning parents who opt their kids out of standardized testing in public schools, saying that doing so hurts kids, The Washington Post is reporting.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, and the National Urban League other civil rights organizations were joined by nine other civil rights groups in issuing the statement.

Posting their statement on The Leadership Conference website, the civil rights groups’ statement says that standardized tests are a reliable way of determining how public schools are performing.

“Our commitment to fair, unbiased, and accurate data collection and reporting resonates greatest in our work to improve education. The educational outcomes for the children we represent are unacceptable by almost every measurement. And we rely on the consistent, accurate, and reliable data provided by annual statewide assessments to advocate for better lives and outcomes for our children. These data are critical for understanding whether and where there is equal opportunity.”

The statement then goes on to say that parents who opt out of standardized testing for their children are contributing to skewed data, and thus, the full picture of how any particular school is performing may not be clear.

“The anti-testing efforts that appear to be growing in states across the nation, like in Colorado and New York, would sabotage important data and rob us of the right to know how our students are faring. When parents ‘opt out’ of tests—even when out of protest for legitimate concerns—they’re not only making a choice for their own child, they’re inadvertently making a choice to undermine efforts to improve schools for every child.”

Standardized testing in public schools has become the subject of heated controversy among parents, students, and school administrators, according to CNN. Parents are concerned that standardized testing forces teachers to “teach to the test” – that is, ignore important lesson material in favor of preparing students for questions likely to appear on a standardized test. Others are concerned that there are simply too many standardized tests; or that the tests don’t actually help education the children; or that they set the kids up for failure.

As a result, several parents – sometimes with the encouragement of school administrators – are opting out of having their kids tested. While Washington Post writer Emma Brown claims that only a “tiny percentage” of kids in public schools are opting out of standardized testing, their numbers are growing. Late last month, the entire junior class at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle sat out standardized tests, according to Reuters.

Do you believe the civil rights groups’ claim that opting out of standardized testing hurts kids? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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