Okay, I may take some heat for this but what’s new. I am not against state assessments for students in grades 3-8 and frankly, I would probably expand them to include 10th and 12th grade.
My issue with current state assessments and not just in MI is that they are not designed to allow EVERY child to display knowledge and growth. Not every child will be at grade level, but the majority can and would, with specialized instruction and instructional materials to have access to grade level curriculum….And for the small percentage who can’t be at or close to grade level, they still deserve an accountable education.
So I am all for having the best in academia design a battery of national assessments that allow EVERY child to demonstrate mastery and ranging from grade level content for the majority to reaching potential for the very small percentage with severe cognitive and multiple impairments.
All this said, I am URGING every parent in MI with a child in grades 3-8 to OPT OUT of the M-STEP that is not field tested and is a MISSTEP that will be meaningless while making students miserable over two months of the school year. There is NO STATE LAW that requires students to take the state assessment. Michigan should have lost their ESEA Waiver due to the Legislature’s debacle over state assessments last spring. Don’t make your child suffer unnecessarily. OPT OUT! Fight for accountable assessments.