Join the 6% Club: Parents Who Opt Out of High Stakes Tests

Parents have the RIGHT to opt their children out of this cycle of madness.
If just 6% of the children per school site were opted out of this grossly over-rated system of assessing students and holding educators accountable, we could begin to have a productive dialogue about more humane and complex systems of assessment and education.

Just saw this video (http://youtu.be/RJ26p7IKAgI) in an email from Janine Sopp. The growing opt-out movement has the best chance to redirect education policy, given the fact the major teacher unions are too frightened to take this issue on --- you know, the "we need to be accountable" crap being pushed by Randi and crew. Just ask her and she will spout back "we need multiple measures" even though we all know only one measure is being used and it is unreliable.




Here is more info from the you tube site:

The high stakes testing fervor which has swept through our public school system has been a national disaster. Not only are these standardized tests flawed, but they have wreaked havoc on the teaching profession, distorting the meaning of "quality education", whilst depriving millions of children of the opportunity to have an enriching engaging educational experience. Curriculum progressively narrows; children are labeled at ever earlier ages in a "uni-dimensional" manner; high school dropout rates are increasing; children from disadvantaged backgrounds are continuing to be the victims of scripted base programs and regimented schedules; state budgets struggle to fund education. All of this, and yet, millions upon millions of tax dollars are being spent to keep the testing-mill going and to purchase a vast variety of boxed curriculae which promise school districts "higher scores".

But, we can stop it.

JOIN THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVEMENT OF THE 21st CENTURY: The 6% CLUB!

"Opt out now! Ask me how!"

More below on Yong Zhao, who was the guest speaker at a GEM/PAA event Oct. 2011 (see videos here and here):

Dr. Yong Zhao is currently Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education, College of Education at the University of Oregon, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE). He is a fellow of the International Academy for Education.

His research interests include educational policy, computer gaming and education, diffusion of innovations, teacher adoption of technology, computer-assisted language learning, and globalization and education.

Zhao has extensive international experiences. He has consulted with government and educational agencies and spoken on educational issues in many countries on six continents. His current work focuses on designing 21st Century Schools in the context of globalization and the digital revolution.

Zhao has published over 20 books and 100 articles. His most recent book is Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization and the Handbook of Asian Education. He has also developed computer software, including the award-winning New Chengo/ZON (http://enterzon.com), the world's first massively multi-player online role-playing game for studying Chinese.