Why We’re Opting Out in Seattle - FACTS

We are a members of the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) community who are opting out of standardized tests to demand that Washington State fully fund public education and address historic inequities in our school systems, instead of wasting endless hours of classroom time and millions of dollars on standardized tests.

We are sharing this information because SPS has actively discouraged  teachers and staff from having open and honest discussions about opting out of standardized tests.

FACT: Standardized tests waste classroom hours. Students spend 50 hours each year taking standardized tests – on top of the instructional time dedicated to preparing for the test. But the tests don’t support learning. Seattle teachers will not even see their students’ SBAC scores until next year. In fact, a majority of Washington educators surveyed said the SBAC is disruptive to teaching and learning.^[1]

“...we view the opt out movement as a vital component of the Black Lives Matter movement and other struggles for social justice.  Using standardized tests to label Black people and immigrants as lesser while systematically underfunding their schools has a long and ugly history.”^[2] 

– Rita Green, MBA; Seattle King County NAACP Education Chair (2015)

FACT: Standardized tests reinforce racism and other systems of oppression. Standardized test scores do not measure student learning or potential﹘they measure the inequities already present in our society.^[3] Students of color, low-income students, English language learners, and special education students are more likely to be deemed non-proficient based on standardized test scores. Despite these disparities, Seattle Public Schools is using SBAC scores to determine eligibility for Highly Capable and Advanced Learning classes, and as a high school graduation requirement.^[4]

FACT: Standardized tests waste millions of dollars while enriching testing companies. Standardized tests cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year in our state in wasted staff time, new test-aligned textbooks, and test ready software and computers, all while our schools lose teachers, counselors, and librarians.^[5]

FACT: Standardized tests are being used to undermine support for public schools. In low-income and diverse communities around the country, low test scores have been used as an excuse to attack teachers’ unions, close schools that anchor neighborhoods, and push for school privatization through charter schools and voucher programs.

FACT: Standardized test scores reflect broad societal inequities not teacher effectiveness. Research shows standardized tests are not a reliable measure of teacher quality.^[6] In fact, standardized test scores are largely determined by factors outside of a teacher’s control, including student and family background, poverty, and curriculum.^[7] 

FACT: Opting out is allowed under federal education law. ESSA explicitly affirms that parents have the right to opt their children out of standardized tests.^[8]

FACT: It’s easy to opt out. If you want to opt out, just send the principal an email or a letter saying you don’t want your student to take the tests. It could be as basic as: “I want to let you know we do not want our student, [name], who is in grad [grade], to take part in the [test name(s)] test this year. Please arrange for [child’s name] to have a productive educational experience during the testing period.” You will need to submit this form each school year.

Standardized tests administered by Seattle Public Schools include:

• Smarter Balanced, both English Language Arts and Math
• MAP, both English Language Arts and Math
• WCAS Science (Grades 5, 8, and 11)

FACT: Opting out has not caused any Seattle schools to lose funding. While Seattle Public Schools’ opt-out FAQ implies that schools with high opt-outs may be at risk of losing federal funds, no Seattle public school to date has ever lost funding due to opt-outs or test results. Thousands of families opting out will force the decision-makers to put an end to this misguided, wasteful and unfair system of high-stakes testing.

Additional Resources

Fair Test  An extensive collection of resources for understanding standardized testing.

I am An Educator blog, published by Seattle Public Schools teacher Jesse Hagopian

Teacher Activist blog, published by Seattle Public Schools educator Tracy Castro-Gill

School Reform and The Racial Divide blog, published by Ciedie Aech

Download an Opt Out Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zRYElZ6I1Ysj-ipTRgUJHwJT7YHc6ncb/view?usp=drivesdk