State testing opt outs increase
Students choose not to take exams
Junior Anna Gleason signs sheet to opt out of MCA testing May 5.
May 10, 2016
Junior Eric Lehr decided to attend his classes as other juniors took the annual Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA), a trend seen in many students this year.
“I probably wasn’t even going to try on it anyway so I thought it was pointless to go,” Lehr said.
According to Prachee Mukherjee, Director of Assessment, Evaluation and Research at the St. Louis Park School District, approximately 250 juniors at Park didn’t take the Grade 11 Math MCA test this year, while only 20 students chose to opt out last year.
Mukherjee said she finds it important for students to take the standardized tests.
“[The test] allows us to look at ourselves in comparison to other districts, allows a student to see where they rank statewide, helps us look at an overall score of how are we doing, how are we improving, and the test helps us measure growth,” Mukherjee said. “I think most of all it helps us be accountable to see how good of a job we are doing.”
Lehr said he doesn’t think Park should force students to take the MCAs because students are not motivated to do well on them.
“I think they’re kind of stupid because most kids don’t even try on them so they really are just a waste of time,” Lehr said.
According to Mukherjee, all students have the opportunity to opt out of the exams, but problems form when too many students choose not to take them.
“Unless a certain number of students take the test, we can’t generalize to the whole grade level,” Mukherjee said. “It really puts us at a disadvantage in respect to knowing how well we are progressing towards the goal that we have set for ourselves.”
Sophomore Eva Arago said she decided not to opt out of the test.
“It makes the school look better if the average is higher,” Arago said. “I figured a lot of people were [taking the test], so I would try to help the school.”
According to Mukherjee, confusion surrounds the large increases in the amount of students choosing to opt out of MCA testing this year, but she hopes to engage in conversation on the topic.
“I would really like to know what teachers are thinking about opting out of the test, what students are thinking, and what parents are thinking,” Mukherjee said. “What are their questions, what are their reasons for taking the test or not taking the test.”
Elise Bargman • May 10, 2016 at 10:35 pm
I opted out because I’d rather be learning actual material, and honestly they picked a terrible two weeks to put the end-of-year tests. It’s AP test/ IB test/ Prom season, they should know better (whether that be the State of Minnesota or the school, either way). Yesterday I opted out of the Science 11 one because I didn’t want to miss my last in-class review before I took the AP Spanish test today. I care about the school’s scores, but missing multiple class periods at such a stressful point in the year is such an added stressor that it’s just not worth it for me.