It’s April and with only about 9 weeks of school left we are getting close to State testing. Schools are already preparing for testing and have sent home the standard information about test dates and test prep. We have received helpful hints about eating, getting a goodnight sleep, and links to practice tests to help students perform better. In addition as mandated by the CDE (California Department of Education), we have received a notice about opting out of the SBAC. Wait…my kid doesn’t have to take the SBAC?
Jaden is currently in 5th grade and has participated in California State testing since 3rd grade. Jaden struggles with reading and multi-step directions, so every year taking this test is a painful process that leaves her feeling defeated and academically inadequate. After the first day of testing in 3rd grade, I arrived to pick up a completely depressed, crying child who was completely discouraged. The first day of testing in 4th grade was about the same and also involved tears. Now she’s in 5th grade and I am wondering, should I continue to submit her to this torture? And what will happen if I don’t?
First and foremost, we need to understand how SBAC results are used by schools. On the CDE FAQ page for the SBAC (now that’s a lot of acronyms!), a link explains the following: “Because these tests are taken toward the end of the school year, the current teacher may use the tests for placement decisions or assignment to summer school if results are received in time. The results also provide teachers with insights into how they could improve their instruction in areas that require additional attention, according to scores. Students’ teachers the following school year can use test results to create instructional plans to target students’ academic needs and to determine whether they need additional tutoring or other support.” Consequently, students are placed into one of four categories, Standard Not Met, Standard Nearly Met, Standard Met, or Standard Exceeded.
Parents can decide if their children take the SBAC. “California law allows parents to submit a written request to schools to excuse their children from state tests for any reason. Although there are no specific consequences for individual students who opt out, many educators say the tests help determine students’ academic strengths and weaknesses so that teachers can create unique instructional plans to help each student succeed.”
At the present time Jaden already has an IEP in place for her dyslexia and we can pretty much predict how she will perform on the SBAC. In the past two years Jaden has had over 5 different assessments for her dyslexia with the last one spanning 3 days in the summer of 2016. We have an extremely accurate map of Jaden’s strengths and weakness at this point, and in our situation the SBAC will not give us any new information that will help Jaden. Jaden is currently participating in a multi-sensory, Orton Gillingham, reading program and we know that we will continue with this plan through the next academic year. In our situation it is reasonable to conclude that I don’t need to put Jaden through testing hell this year because we will not learn anything new about Jaden as a student.
Here is a summary of reasons why we will be opting out of the SBAC this year.
The SBAC requires extensive reading. Some of the questions incorporate multi-step instructions which are extremely difficult for a student with dyslexia.
Students are expected to write out many of their answers to explain their thought process in solving problems. Many students with dyslexia struggle with spelling which makes writing a long, very difficult process. If students were allowed to speak and record their answers, those with dyslexia would perform much better.
The SBAC was created to assess neuro-typical students. Students with dyslexia are neurologically wired differently. Comparing them to their neuro-typical peers does not seem reasonable.
Standardized tests can cause anxiety and distress in students with learning challenges that outweigh any useful information that can be learned from such tests.
Standardized tests are not an accurate measure of student potential, especially not for students with dyslexia.
In the event that you do opt to have your dyslexic child participate in the SBAC or similar standardized test here are some accommodations that are reasonable to request:
Taking the test in a quiet room without distractions
Removing or extending time limitations
Letting students take breaks when needed
Accepting verbal responses
Reading questions and answers out loud for better comprehension
In summary, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. In the end I believe you have to do what is right for your child and your situation. In our case, I believe the emotional consequences of not being able to perform well outweigh any information the SBAC would reveal about Jaden as a student. I keep coming back to this Albert Einstein quote, “Everybody is a Genius. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid.” And this is why we are opting out this year.
