Big Drop in Students Opting Out

As schools across the state anticipate third through eighth grade testing in English language arts and math to begin next week, a survey of school districts between Bridgehampton and Montauk this week showed fewer children seem to be opting out this year.

A statewide Gallup poll had reported 240,000 students refused to take the tests last year, with hundreds of East End students among them. The English language arts tests begin Tuesday and run for three days. The math tests are the following week.

Last year, many parents had asked their children to opt out as they advocated for fairer and shorter tests and said the tests created too much anxiety among children because they were often too tough for the grade levels given in.

A number of teachers’ unions also supported opting out in order to send a message to lawmakers that the high-stakes standardized tests were unfair to teachers. In particular, they objected to a law that was to tie 50-percent of students’ test scores to teachers’ job reviews.

In a March 17 letter, Eric Casale, the Springs School principal, told parents there had been more teacher involvement in the tests this year, that the tests will have fewer questions, and that students will be allowed as much time as they need to finish them. He reported that 10 students in grades three through eight, out of some 465, have said they would not take the tests. Last year, Springs saw 79 students opt out of 465 students.

“I am confident these changes will assist our children to not only better demonstrate what they know, but also alleviate anxiety,” Mr. Casale wrote.

Katy Graves, the Sag Harbor District superintendent, reported Tuesday that 26 out of 481 students had recently handed in opt-out letters. She said 146 out of 490 students had opted out of the English language tests at about this time last year.

“Parents may feel they are beginning to be heard by our new commissioner of education,” Ms. Graves said in an email.

Bridgehampton is also seeing far fewer students opting out this year, with only 3 out of 80 students refusing to take the English test next week. Last year, it was 15 out of 67 students. “I meet with each grade taking the test to encourage them to do their best, and to know that we know they are ready,” Lois Favre, Bridgehampton’s superintendent, said in an email. “Other than that, we handle any specific students’ displaying anxiety, et cetera, on a case by case basis, but seemingly rare.”

Jack Perna, superintendent of the Montauk School, said only 2 out of 212 students have submitted refusal letters, while last year, it was 36 out of 208 students. In Amagansett, Eleanor Tritt, the superintendent, reported no students have opted out, at least so far. Last year, Amagansett had 2 out of 63 students.

 Ms. Tritt said Amagansett teachers “try to downplay it so that the kids are not unnecessarily producing anxiety and take it as part of a regular routine. We feel that it’s really good for the children to have the opportunity to take standardized tests so that by the time they get to the middle school and the high school they have been used to the experience, so it’s not the first time when they take high-stakes tests in the future.”

Wainscott School had not heard of any students opting out this year and does not anticipate any by Tuesday, according to its superintendent, Stuart Rachlin. Alan Van Cott, the Sagaponack School superintendent, declined to answer the question about testing, saying the school’s third-grade is so small providing such information might compromise students’ identity.

In East Hampton, Richard Burns, the superintendent, said Tuesday that the district has just four students out of 658 opting out of the English tests. But, he thought it was premature to discuss the numbers because more letters may come in before Tuesday. Last year, 64 East Hampton students opted out of English tests out of 669.

 Meanwhile, at a forum on Monday at the Southampton Cultural Center, members of three teachers’ unions — the Teachers Association of Sag Harbor, the Southampton Teachers Association, and the Westhampton Beach Teachers Association — had a lot to say about what they call disturbing trends facing public education. Not only high-stakes testing, but also privatization of public resources, political involvement, and a loss of local control were cited.   The forum was intended to spread the unions’ concerns among other teachers and the community at large, and the conversation Monday seemed to resonate among the more than 40 people in the audience.

“Opting out is not something I personally enjoy endorsing. . . . These tests need to change, and opting out of Pearson tests to me is a no-brainer,” Jim Kinnier, president of the Teachers Association of Sag Harbor, said at the forum. “It says to the state, ‘Now finish the job and make significant changes that benefit our students.’ ”

Although the Board of Regents, which sets state education policy, recently enacted a moratorium on that law, English and math scores are still being used to evaluate teachers who don’t teach those subjects. And, teachers object to the fact that private companies, specifically Pearson, are still creating the tests.

At the end of the program, the presidents of the participating unions handed out letters they suggested should be sent to state officials, including Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., and Roger Tilles, the New York State regent representing Long Island.

The letter to Mr. Tilles asked for changes in the tests, while the letters to Assemblyman Thiele and Senator LaValle asked for the repeal of the law that ties 50-percent of teachers’ job evaluations to test scores. Many in the audience immediately signed the letters and handed them back.