A friend of mine and I are having a debate about standardized testing, namely the EQAO tests that test our grade 3, 6, and 9 students across the province (country? unsure). Our question is, because these tests are basically a competition between districts, to inform the government which schools are doing better than others, as parents, can we opt our children out of these tests?
These tests have absolutely NO baring on our children's educations. They don't go into a file, they don't help their grades, they are only useful to the government. I believe they put added and unneeded stress on the students, and since they only test reading and math skills, they really don't show a well rounded picture of how well our children are learning. Maybe if they also tested physical skill, artistic abilities, geographical knowledge, etc they'd be more reliable, but as of now, they do not. Not to mention these tests cost taxpayers 60 million dollars a year.
I would say as a taxpayer who is against these tests I should have the option of pulling my child out of the testing.
If someone could let me know if a parent can pull a child out of a mandatory test, that would be great.
Thanks
These tests have absolutely NO baring on our children's educations. They don't go into a file, they don't help their grades, they are only useful to the government. I believe they put added and unneeded stress on the students, and since they only test reading and math skills, they really don't show a well rounded picture of how well our children are learning. Maybe if they also tested physical skill, artistic abilities, geographical knowledge, etc they'd be more reliable, but as of now, they do not. Not to mention these tests cost taxpayers 60 million dollars a year.
I would say as a taxpayer who is against these tests I should have the option of pulling my child out of the testing.
If someone could let me know if a parent can pull a child out of a mandatory test, that would be great.
Thanks