California September 1, 2014

State by state template created by UOO, http://unitedoptout.
com

This is not a legal document. It is for informational purposes only.
Template revised: 9.1.14

Testing opt-out/Refusal guide for California

Form completed by Larry Lawrence and Heather Poland

Contact information (email): Heather, hpoland@gmail.com; Cynthia,
cynthialiu333@gmail.com, Larry, lsquared21@roadrunner.com
Testing Opt-Out/Refusal Guide for California
California Parents,
Thank you for your interest in eliminating High Stakes Testing (HST) from our
childrens educational experience. The purpose of this guide is to provide the necessary
resources to enable you to take action to eliminate these tests in your childs education.
These resources include:
1) A rationale for opting your child out of high stakes testing.
2) Urgency for Opt-Out/Refusal
3) A list of some of the high stakes tests used in California
4) A list of procedures for opting out
5) Sample letters to your school/district
6) People and other Resources to support you in your decision
Opting Out of standardized tests is a difficult decision faced by parents across the nation.
Most of California has not yet experienced the dramatic consequences of High Stakes
Testing seen in some of the other states. In the New York State tests of 2013, the majority
of students tested failed to achieve what was identified as proficient. These harsh results
served as a catalyst for many parents to opt out of 2014 New York tests. Other states,
especially large urban areas have been severely disrupted by the results on these high
stakes tests. Misuse of the information from these tests have resulted in a nationwide
attack on the very nature of public schooling. United Opt Out, with the help of parents,
will strive to reverse this disastrous assessment mania. California has a specific policy
allowing parents to opt their students out of testing, which simplifies the process for
opting out. As a result of this ease in opting out of high stakes test, California could be a
leader in the Opt Out movement!
Rational for the Elimination of High Stakes Testing
(Taken from the FairTest website)
State by state template created by UOO, http://unitedoptout.com


Test standards and major research groups such as the National Academy of
Sciences clearly state that major educational decisions should not be based solely
on a test score. High-stakes testing punishes students, and often teachers, for
things they cannot control. It drives students and teachers away from learning, and
at times from school. It narrows, distorts, weakens and impoverishes the
curriculum while fostering forms of instruction that fail to engage students or
support high-quality learning. In a high-stakes testing environment, the limit to
educational improvement is largely dictated by the tests - but the tests are a poor
measure of high-quality curriculum and learning. In particular, the emphasis on
testing hurts low-income students and students from minority groups. Testing
cannot provide adequate information about school quality or progress. High-
stakes testing actively hurts, rather than helps, genuine educational improvement.
Urgency for opt-out/refusal
High Stakes Testing:

Is not scientifically-based and fails to follow the U.S. Government's own data on
learning.
Fosters test driven education that is not meeting the individual/intellectual needs of
students.
Presents a racial and economic bias that is beneficial to white middle/upper class
students and detrimental to second language students, impoverished students, and
students of color.
Is in opposition to the corrective action in gaps in opportunity and resources sanctioned
by the Fiscal Fairness Act.
Supports complicity of corporate interests rather than democracy based on public
concerns.
Fosters coercion over cooperation with regards to federal funding for public education.
Promotes a culture of lying, cheating, and exploitation within the school community.
Has used the achievement gap to foster a de facto segregation that has resulted in
separate and unequal education for minorities.
Additionally, data collection of student's private information cannot be guaranteed
security or that it will not be abused in some way by third party entities.


Low/poor test scores, which are likely to occur with more frequency with Common Core
and SBAC/PARCC will be used to fire teachers, create more online learning scenarios
even in elementary schools, and close more public schools to be replaced with for profit
charter schools.
(see Appendix I for a more extensive narrative)
High Stakes Tests Used in California
(see Appendix II for a description of each test)
SBAC Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
MAP Measures of Academic Progress
Acuity Attempts to predict readiness for upcoming state assessment
DRA Developmental Reading Assessment
ARI Analytical Reading Inventory
CAHSEE California High School Exit Exam
Raven used for GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) placement
WRAP Writing and Reading Assessment Profile
Achieve3000 Online literacy instruction for grades 2-8, uses Lexile levels to
assess students
Special considerations for the above assessments
CAHSEE- must pass for graduation
GATE testing for entrance into GATE program
District benchmarks used as one consideration for promotion to high school, there is no
modified benchmark in some districts for kids with IEPs
Procedures for Opting Out
Fortunately, for California the procedure to opt out is fairly simple. California Education
Code allows parents to excuse their child from high stakes testing. Parents can opt out
of any and all assessments by written letter. This section of the ed code is as follows:
CA Ed Code: 60615. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a parent's or guardian's
written request to school officials to excuse his or her child from any or all parts of the
assessments administered pursuant to this chapter shall be granted.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/ displaycode?section=edc&group=60001-
61000&file=60604-60618
The sample letters in the next section range from short, simple letters to longer and
quite comprehensive. The last sample should not be necessary in California,
however, it provides a rationale for opting out, the state Ed Code reference, and a


description of the broader rights of parents through past U.S. Supreme Court
decisions.
You may be interested in composing your own letter, however, please feel free to
adapt any of these sample letters to your situation.
Sample Opt Out Letters
Sample Letter 1
This is a very simple, straight-forward opt out letter to your school principal suggested
for California schools by the group pencilsdown.org for.
Dear Principal:
I do not want my child, _________________, to take the XXXX tests this spring.
______________ _______________________________________________
date
parents signature
Sample Letter 2
If you wish to write a simple letter and include the California Ed Code reference,
alternative evaluation suggestions, and alternative activity arrangements, here is a form
letter:
Dear_______________:
____________, ___________, 20___
This letter is to inform you of my/our decision to opt out my/our
child/dependent,______________________________________, from all state,
federal, district, and publisher testing at
__________________________________school per CA Ed Code 60615.
Furthermore, this letter serves as notice of my/our decision to refuse any school,
state, or federal surveys which may be given to my/our child either on paper or
electronically. I do not give permission for the school or state to collect data on
my child which includes any data collection from online classwork or homework.
Please place a copy of this letter in my child's cumulative folder. In place of
standardized testing, my child's teacher may create an authentic
assessment portfolio to document my child's learning progress throughout the
year. At the time of testing, my child may sit quietly and read a book or do
another independent activity. Please inform me if the testing will take more than a


couple of hours in each day so that I may make other arrangements for my
child's education at that time. Thank you for all that you do for supporting public
education. Sincerely,
__________________________________
_________________/______/__________

Sample Letter 3
If your wish to say something about alternatives while keeping a positive relationship
with the school, here is an excerpt from an article in Education Week by Catherine
Hamel and Fred L. Hame of Washington state:
These are well-intended efforts. But as schools carry out their mandated testing,
they are forced to shift their energies away from what educators know about kids
and learning and toward representing themselves in simplistic ways for public
consumption. We believe, further, that many adults working in schools recognize
this oversimplification. But they're in a difficult place to object. Such objections
must come from outside the schools.
Typically, we submit a letter to the school that reads something like this:
We would like to request that our child not participate in the Washington
Assessment of Student Learning testing this spring. We understand that the district
is mandated to collect such test data. However, we prefer that our daughter be
engaged in learning activities during testing times.
We've discussed our decision with our daughter and her teachers, and we are
working together to develop a plan for her during testing times that will work for
everyone.
Thank you for considering our request. We appreciate the positive and rich
learning environment that you help create and support at [our school].
In our letter, we support those who educate our children, affirming that we trust
what they know about students more than what a company-scored test can reveal.
During Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and WASL testing in recent years, our kids'
teachers have allowed them to work on meaningful alternative activities
activities we believe are more geared to their learning needs. Last year, during
mandated testing, our son worked on a story he's been writing avidly about two
parakeets like the ones he has at home. In 4th grade, a testing year in our state, our
daughter did an independent project about sea animals.


Sample Letter 4
This letter is from San Diego Parents who wish to include a message about their
concerns about high stakes standardized testing:
February 16, 2012 Bill Kowba Superintendent of Schools San
Diego Unified School District 4100 Normal Street, Room 2219 San
Diego, CA 92103

Dear Mr. Kowba,

Please accept this letter as our request to excuse our daughter,
XXXX, from participation in standardized achievement testing as is
allowed in 60615 of the California Education Code. This request
includes the state mandated assessments of the California
Standardized Testing and Reporting assessment program
(STAR/CAT 6), which will begin for our daughter in the 2012-2013
school year, as well as the San Diego Unified School District
Benchmark Exam program.

We believe such testing to be unjust, counter-productive, and harmful
to the education and development of our daughter; we do not see any
intrinsic value in our six-year old spending time transcribing her
answers from a test sheet to a Scantron. Timed, one-chance tests do
not show regard to variables in context or circumstance affecting
student performance on the days of testing. This is further
underscored by the fact that, as a student of the Language Academy,
our child is currently forced to take tests in English, a language she
isnt yet learning to read.
In addition, we do not wish to participate in mandated programs that
coerce school districts into compliance with punishments that
adversely affect the resources, standing, and operations of our locally
controlled pubic schools. The state oversteps its bounds and does a
disservice to the public when it ignores professionals in local schools,
arbitrarily making educational decisions (funding, status, and
otherwise) based solely upon these one-chance tests.

As parents, we resent being held hostage to testswhich cannot be
cheap to administerwhile simultaneously suffering absurd cuts to
our school, cuts that continue to decimate our staff and much-needed
resources.

We understand that it is an educators professional duty to assess the
learning of each student in the classroom and we fully support our
teachers, our principal and our staff. This request is not intended to
restrict professional assessment (formative or summative) by the


classroom teacher to which our child is assigned. On the contrary, we
believe our talented teacher is our childs benchmark, and that she
has the skills and training to do what standardized tests cannot.

Best regards, XXXXXXXXXXX, San Diego, CA

cc: [Our Principal]
Mr. John Lee Evans, President, San Diego Unified School District
Board of Trustees
Mr. Tom Torlackson, California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Sample Letter 5
This sample is from parents of a students in the Chicago Public Schools. As in the last
sample, they provide a rationale for opting out of testing.
We are writing to notify you that our daughter [name] will not be
participating in any standardized testing for the remainder of the 2012-2013
school year. As we understand it, this will include the NWEA MPG, mClass
Math, DIBELS, TRC, REACH, and Quarterly Benchmark Performance Tasks.
Please let us know if this is not an exhaustive list, as we do wish to opt her
out of all remaining standardized test administrations.
During whole class standardized testing we understand that [name] will be
provided with appropriate accommodations in order to engage in quiet, self-
guided activity like silent reading, drawing, or writing so as to not disrupt
other students.
We are opting [name] out for several reasons. First, the standardized testing
being administered to children age eight and under in the Chicago Public
Schools, whether required or just strongly recommended by the district, is not
in accordance with the recommendations of the National Association for the
Education of Young Children (NAEYC)s position statement on Early
Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation
(http://naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf).


In addition, we do not want [name]s performance on any standardized test to
be used in the evaluation of her classroom teacher, her principal, her school,
or her school district. We feel this is an inappropriate, inaccurate, and, frankly,
unethical use of these tests. Finally, we have fundamental philosophical and
moral objections to the overuse and misuse of standardized testing in the
public education system in the USa problem that has become ever more
acute in recent years. Particularly in large urban districts like our own,
standardized testing has had negative effects on the emotional and mental
health of children, has narrowed the curriculum, and has been used to deprive
of resources, punish, and close schools in the very communities in most need
of educational resources. We will not perpetuate this system by continuing to
allow our child to participate in it.
We are happy to discuss this matter further with anyone at CPS.
Sample Letter 6
This sample letter comes from Oregon Opt Out:
Dear _______:
I am writing on behalf of _____ to opt him/her out of the (test name). He/she is neither
permitted to take the exam during mandated testing days nor during designated make-up
sessions. Additionally, I am requesting that the school make accommodations for
meaningful alternative activities or assignments that will continue to promote his/her
academic and intellectual
growth. My child will not be in attendance if academically viable alternatives are not
available. Furthermore, I must be guaranteed in writing that whatever option is taken,
either alternative assignments or absence, my child will not face any negative
consequences to, for example, course grades, social or behavioral evaluations, workload,
promotion, or future classroom assignments.
Strict adherence to state and federal high-stakes standardized testing, including the
extensive classroom preparation that occurs prior to test administration, prevents my
child from receiving a well-rounded and engaging educational experience. Until focus on
testable skills diminishes to a reasonable extent, I will continue to withhold my child
from participation in the testing program, and I ask that you honor that decision.


I do apologize in advance for the inconvenience or scrutiny that this decision may cause
the administration, the school, and staff.
Sincerely,
Sample Letter 7
This sample provides an example of a much more formal letter that includes Supreme
Court decisions regarding the rights of parents. Since California has a state law the
allows parents to opt our of testing, this is probably more than is needed.
Dear _____ County Administrators,
My child ____ is in XXX grade for the _____ school year at _______ School. I am
writing
to inform you that I refuse to have my children take part in the GATE, RAVEN,
CAHSEE, DIBELS or any other forms of high stakes standardized testing I have been
advised that religious or even a medical or psychological concern meets the criteria for
honoring my request. In
lieu of the high stakes standardized tests I request that my child be given alternative
forms of assessment to include but not limited to teacher made assessments, projects, and
portfolio, to be determined at the discretion of _____'s teacher.
According to CA Ed Code: 60615. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a parent's
or guardian's written request to school officials to excuse his or her child from any or all
parts of the assessments administered pursuant to this chapter shall be granted.
There are mountains of documentation out there. Participating in these tests 1) negatively
affects my child social-emotional well being, 2) kills his or her curiosity and love for
learning, 3) places developmentally inappropriate and undue and unhealthy stress on him,
4) reduces his or her capacity for attaining new knowledge, 5) replaces his or her higher
order thinking with drill and kill curriculum, 6) diminishes opportunities for
socialization, and 7) diverts funding that could go to fund programs in my child's school
to testing companies and publishing companies.
According to the U.S Constitution, specifically the 14th Amendment, I am protected by
my rights to religious/spiritual freedom and this federal law supersedes state in regard to
parental control over one's child. Under the law, you cannot deny my request.
Parental rights are broadly protected by Supreme Court decisions (Meyer and Pierce),
especially in the area of education. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that parents
posses the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
Furthermore,
the Court declared that the child is not the mere creature of the State: those who nurture
him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and
prepare him for additional obligations. (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-


35) The Supreme Court criticized a state legislature for trying to interfere with the
power of parents to control
the education of their own. (Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 402.) In Meyer, the
Supreme Court held that the right of parents to raise their children free from unreasonable
state interferences is one of the unwritten liberties protected by the Due Process Clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment. (262 U.S. 399). In recognition of both the right and
responsibility of parents to control their children's education, the Court has stated, It is
cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents,
whose primary function and freedom include preparation for the obligations the State can
neither supply nor hinder. (Prince v.Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158)
In summary, I believe high stakes tests are harmful to my child socially, emotionally and
physically, and diminish his or her opportunities to attend a public school where he has
been
guaranteed the right to the quality education.
Please think about your role in this and if there is anything you can do to take a stand
against the Big Lie that is NCLB and RTTT and high-stakes standardized testing which
threaten the future of the children you serve.
Sincerely,
__________________________________ _________________/______/__________

Resources and organizations
This section lists resources and organizations helpful in this state in the form of names,
links, email contact information, or otherwise. This is an opportunity to build a grassroots
base in this state.
For more information about Opting Out in California, Contact:
Heather, hpoland@gmail.com
Cynthia, cynthialiu333@gmailcom
Larry, lsquared21@roadrunner.com
United Opt Out www.unitedoptout.com
Fair Test www.fairtest.org
Rethinking Schools www.rethinkingschools.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unitedoptout


http://dianeravitch.net
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice
Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch (Nov 1, 2011)
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to
America's Public Schools by Diane Ravitch (Sep 17, 2013)
Appendix I
The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes
Standardized Testing
Submitted by fairtest on December 17, 2007 - 1:50pm fact sheets high stakes k-12
Tests are called "high-stakes" when they used to make major decisions about a student,
such as high school graduation or grade promotion. To be high stakes, a test has to be
very important in the decision process or be able to override other information (for
example, a student does not graduate if s/he does not pass the test regardless of how well
s/he did in school). Currently, 17 states require students to pass a test to graduate, and 7
more are planning such tests.
Tests are called "standardized" when all students answer the same questions under similar
conditions and their responses are scored in the same way. This includes commercial
norm- referenced tests as well as state criterion-referenced or standards-based exams.
They can include multiple-choice or open-ended (constructed) responses.
Research has shown that high-stakes testing causes damage to individual students and
education. It is not a reasonable method for improving schools. Here are a few of the
many reasons why:
1) High-stakes tests are unfair to many students.
Some students simply do not test well. Many students are affected by test anxiety or do
not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores.
Many students do not have a fair opportunity to learn the material on the test because
they attend poorly-funded schools with large class sizes, too many teachers without
subject area certification, and inadequate books, libraries, laboratories, computers and
other facilities. These students are usually from low-income families, and many also
suffer problems with housing, nutrition or health care. High-stakes tests punish them for
things they cannot control.
Students with learning disabilities, whose first language is not English, or who attend
vocational schools fail high-stakes tests far more frequently than do mainstream students.


Some people say that it is unfair to students to graduate them if they have not been
adequately educated. But if students do not have access to an adequate and equitable
education, they end up being held accountable while the system is not. States must take
responsibility and be held accountable for providing a strong educational opportunity for
all.
2) High-stakes testing leads to increased grade retention and dropping out.
Grade retention has repeatedly been proven to be counterproductive: students who are
retained do not improve academically, are emotionally damaged by retention, suffer a
loss of interest in school and self-esteem, and are more likely to drop out of school.
The most comprehensive national study finds that graduation tests lead to a higher
dropout rate for students who are relatively low-achievers in school, while they do not
produce improved learning for those who stay in school.
3) High-stakes testing produces teaching to the test.
The higher the stakes, the more schools focus instruction on the tests. As a result, what is
not tested often is not taught. Whole subjects may be dropped; e.g., science, social
studies, art or physical education may be eliminated if only language arts and math are
tested. Important topics or skills that cannot be tested with paper-and-pencil tests such
as writing research papers or conducting laboratory experiments are not taught.
Instruction starts to look like the tests. For example, reading is reduced to short passages
followed by multiple-choice questions, a kind of "reading" that does not exist in the real
world. Writing becomes the "five-paragraph essay" that is useless except on standardized
tests.
Narrowing of curriculum and instruction happens most to low-income students. In
schools serving wealthier areas, teachers and parents make sure most students gain the
skills and knowledge they need to succeed in college and life. Too often, poor kids in
under-funded schools get little more than test coaching that does not adequately prepare
them for further learning. In some schools, the library budget is spent on test prep
materials, and professional development
is reduced to training teachers to be better test coaches. All this further limits educational
opportunities for low-income children.
Some people say that teaching to the test is fine if test content is important. However:
- Most tests include many topics that are not important, while many important areas are
not included on standardized tests because they cannot be measured by such tests.
- Teaching to the test produces a classroom climate and style of teaching that is
ineffective and turns many students off to learning.


- Teaching to the test does not produce real and sustained gains on independent learning
measures. Teaching to the test does not work if the goal is high-quality learning.
4) High-stakes testing drives out good teachers.
As learning largely depends on teacher quality, real improvements in schools can only
come through teachers. Good teachers are often discouraged, even disgusted, by the
overemphasis on testing. Many excellent teachers leave. It is absurd to believe that the
"best and brightest" will want to become teachers when teaching is reduced to test prep
and when schools are continually attacked by politicians, business leaders and the media.
When narrow tests are used to hold schools accountable, teachers also leave low-
performing schools where they are needed most.
5) High-stakes testing misinforms the public.
People have a right to know how well schools are doing. However, tests fail to provide
sufficient information. The new federal requirement that only assessment scores be used
to determine whether schools are improving will make the situation worse.
Teaching to the test causes score inflation (score gains that dont represent actual
improvements in learning) which misleads the public into thinking schools are
improving, when they may not be better and due to teaching to the test, may even be
worse.
Most tests are secret, so the public cannot know what students are expected to know.
State academic content standards typically are too long, often too obscure, and much of
what is in them is not tested.
Tests are a narrow slice of what parents and the public need to know about schools. They
dont include non-academic areas and they are weak measures of academics.
Test results dont take into account non-school factors that affect learning, such as
poverty, hunger, student mobility, lack of medical care, safety, community resources,
parents education - all of which must be addressed if "no children are to be left behind."
Conclusion: High-stakes testing does not improve education.
Test standards and major research groups such as the National Academy of Sciences
clearly state that major educational decisions should not be based solely on a test score.
High-stakes testing punishes students, and often teachers, for things they cannot control.
It drives students and teachers away from learning, and at times from school. It narrows,
distorts, weakens and
impoverishes the curriculum while fostering forms of instruction that fail to engage
students or support high-quality learning. In a high-stakes testing environment, the limit
to educational improvement is largely dictated by the tests - but the tests are a poor


measure of high-quality curriculum and learning. In particular, the emphasis on testing
hurts low-income students and students from minority groups. Testing cannot provide
adequate information about school quality or progress. High-stakes testing actively hurts,
rather than helps, genuine educational improvement.
Appendix II
1) SBAC - Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium from the CA Dept. of
Ed. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is a multistate group working
collaboratively to develop a student assessment system aligned with a (THE)
common core of academic content standards for English language arts/literacy
and mathematics.
2) MAP Measures of Academic Progress. Several CA districts use this
standardized testing program. Students in grades one through nine are tested three
times per year in math, reading, and language arts. The tests are administered on a
computer and are programmed to adjust to the skill level of the student.
3) Acuity- McGraw-Hill formative assessment that can be given through
paper/pencil or online. McGraw-Hill describes it: Acuity comprises up to three
35- to 40-point scaled predictive assessment that reflects your states
accountability exam in terms of structure and item type.
4) DRA The Developmental Reading Assessment is a standardized reading test
used
to determine a students instructional level in reading. The DRA is administered
individually to students by teachers and/or reading specialists. The DRA is
administered to all students in Gr. 1-3 during a testing window in September and
again in May.
5) ARI The Analytical Reading Inventory is a teacher administered reading
assessment that is given one-on-one and is to be used with students in grades 4-8.
6) CAHEE California High School Exit Exam. This Exam is a requirement for
high school graduation. It attempts to measure student skills in reading, writing,
and mathematics. Public school students must pass the exam before they can
receive a high school diploma, regardless of any other graduation requirements. In
2010, 81% of the 10
th
graders passed each of the two sections on their first try.
7) GATE Gifted and Talented Education. This program provides special
services for students who are identified as gifted by various factors.
8) Raven Sstandardized test given to qualify students for the GATE program. It
is not used in all districts.


9) WRAKP [from San Diego USD] The Writing and Reading Assessment
Profile is a quick and easy diagnostic tool that can help teachers gather
information about students early literacy skills.

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