resistance

for further information:                                                                
Lisa Guisbond (617) 959-2371
Bob Schaeffer  (239) 395-6773

For release Wednesday, September 8, 2016

With public schools closing for the summer, many states are reviewing their 2015-2016 testing experience (once again, not a pretty picture) and planning to implement assessment reforms in coming years.  You can help stop the U.S. Department of Education from promoting testing misuse and overuse by weighing in on proposed Every Student Succeeds Act regulations.

FairTest has created a PowerPoint presentation on how to organize testing resistance and reform under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

You can view it in pdf here.

Welcome! This page lists standardized test resistance, refusal and reform actions and events by state. These include opting out, public forums and meetings, rallies, news conferences, legislative action days, and more.

If you have an action or event to share, let us know at fairtest@fairtest.org and we will post it here.

You can use the hashtags #resistthetests and #optout2016 to post your actions on Facebook and Twitter.

"[The] refusal to participate in federally mandated testing programs likely represents a turning point in the history of assessment reform in the United States. The next few years will tell, as activists plan to dramatically increase refusals and to win policy changes in the states. Their avowed goals include less testing, an end to high-stakes uses of tests (that is, making decisions about students, educators, or schools solely or primarily on test scores), and implementation of other, educationally sound assessment practices.

Lots of stories this week demonstrating the impact of opting out and other effective protests against standardized exam overkill. Please continue to support the testing resistance and reform movement through your own grassroots work and by making a contribution to FairTest at: 

                    https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/fairtest

A controversial December 2015 memo from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is the latest in a series of hollow threats suggesting that states, districts and schools could lose federal financial aid if parents, students or teachers boycott standardized tests. The memo cites several possible penalties for states with high opt-out rates, including withholding some federal funds that help pay for testing. But none of the funding sanctions would affect local schools.

for further information:

Bob Schaeffer      (239) 395-6773

Lisa Guisbond      (617) 959-2371                                                          

Updated Monday, August 29, 2016

The New Federal Education Law:

A  Basis for a Stronger Testing Resistance and Assessment Reform Movement