Almost 200K students boycotted NY state standardized tests in parents’ rights revolt
NY Post
Thousands of New York parents are staging a revolt against standardized tests.
Nearly 200,000 students — or one out of five — refused to sit for the state’s standardized reading and math exams for grades 3-8 administered in the spring, test data reviewed by The Post reveals.
Of the more than 1 million students eligible, 18% opted out of the English Language Arts exam and 17% skipped the math assessment, according to the figures from the state Education Department (SED).
The state does not penalize students and school districts for opting out of the exams, which are used to measure skills and knowledge and determine proficiency.
Boycott rates were sky high in the suburbs — notably in Long Island — amid parental objections at what they see as excessive testing, which critics have long maintained leads to narrowing of the curriculum and “teaching to the test.”
The objections to standardized tests are also part of what is generally called the parents’ rights movement — covering disputes gripping the nation over everything from homeschooling and charter schools and vouchers, to what’s taught in the curriculum, transgender student rights and lockdowns and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
