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A story in this week's WW about Portland parents who opt out their children from state standardized tests focused on one school and the consequences it may face as a result of its relatively high number of students refusing the mandated tests.
Eighteen students at Vernon K-8 School opted out of reading and math tests last year, compared to five the year before. The number of students opting out of testing in the Portland Public Schools district overall also rose, from 38 in 2012-13 to about 100 in 2013-14, according to PPS.
It's safe to say that the opt-out movement is spreading well beyond Vernon in Northeast Portland. But the sanctions schools face are not uniform, as one parent who read last week's story correctly pointed out.
Twenty-six elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools in PPS, including Vernon, get federal anti-poverty funding known as Title 1. PPS has about 80 schools in all.
State and school officials say that only schools that get Title 1 funding would be subject to state and federal interventions, including restrictions on funding and possible layoffs, if their scores on the state's rating system dropped to the bottom as a result of opt-outs. (Laid off teachers would be replaced.)
Schools that don't get Title 1 funding would face only the stigma of having dropped in the state's rating system— one measure of school quality that some parents turn to when selecting their children's schools.
In Oregon, parents are allowed to opt out their children from standardized tests for reasons of disability or religion. In practice, however, Portland Public Schools does not challenge parents who claim the religious exemption. That means anyone can opt out if they're willing to check a box or write a letter explaining their objections.
But schools' ratings are based not just on how well students do on tests. They also count how many participated. That rule exists to discourage schools from manipulating their scores by, say, preventing lower-performing students from taking the tests.
Vernon would have scored Level 3 on a scale of one to five had the rating been based solely on achievement. The fact that it had a significant number of students opting out for two years in a row brought Vernon down to a Level 1, the lowest.
Parents who object to standardized tests as useless measures of student performance argue against this as well.
"This notion of punishing a school for low participation rates only underscores the unjust nature of this testing system," wrote J. Kerns in the comments section of last week's story.
WWeek 2015