This is my informational update with links to all the testing and opt-out information, as well as other pertinent information for APS parents. I. APS Parent News: Get these weekly news updates to your personal email box. Click on this link to subscribe to the weekly APS Parent News: bit.ly/1uQX2Mu II. Graduation Requirements: It is VERY important that parents of high school students understand the new requirements for graduation, especially Class of 2015 parents! Graduation requirements include: -- Earning 25 credits -- Exit Exam requirements. These are accomplished by your children hitting cutoff scores on End of Course exams AND PARCC exams AND the SBA science test. Read all about the graduation requirements here: aps.edu/schools/graduation-requirements Contact your high school counselor for information about these exit exam requirements and which exams you may opt your student out of safely. Eventually, when the PED can give us a full list of End of Course exams (they have created 20-plus more for this year!), APS will post the full list. III. Testing Requirements by Grade: It is most important that parents of ALL children K-12 understand the new standardized testing requirements mandated by the NM Public Education Department under the direction of Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera -- appointed by Gov. Martinez. Many parents, teachers and citizens in our community believe these standardized tests are hurting our childrens learning time. You be the judge. But here is a list of all required mandated exams that each grade level will be taking this year in APS. These mandated assessments are VERY DIFFERENT from the normal tests, quizzes and other assignments given to our students by their teachers. You may NOT opt your children out of normal classroom assignments and tests given by teachers!!! You can find a PDF list of assessments by grade and also see the testing window for each mandated test: aps.edu/schools/testing/documents/assessments-by-grades-2014-15 IV. Opting Out: As parents of our children, we have the sole responsibility of understanding what our children are doing in school and, working with our teachers, determining what is best for our children. Many of us across Albuquerque and New Mexico are fighting some of these state-mandated standardized tests that are being implemented this year by Hanna Skandera. In the assessment by grade, generally speaking: -- End of Course exams in K-5 are safe to opt out of. These exams are used only in the shoddy evaluation system imposed by Skandera. The best tools for evaluating teachers, we have learned this school year, is observation. Test results fed into an unverified mathematical formula is not a good way to evaluate teachers. You can read more about this at stand4kidsnm.org -- End of Course exams in 6-8: If your middle school students are taking courses for high school credit, then you should carefully discuss your option to opt out with your students teacher and/or counselor. If your student is taking regular middle school classes, EOCs can be safely opted out of for reasons cited above. -- End of Course exams in 9-12: Some of these exams are required for a diploma now. Make sure you understand which exams your student must take to get a diploma after achieving the state-determined cut score. The EOCs that hinge on a diploma are those in these subject areas: English, Math, History, Science, Social Studies and Writing. Work with your students counselor and TREAD CAREFULLY in opting out of these EOCs in high school. -- PARCC: These new exams replace the Standards Based Assessment in K-12. They can be safely opted out of in K-8. In high school, achieving a cut score on these exams at least ONCE is necessary to earn a diploma. -- SBA: This test for science still exists. It is given in 4, 7 and 11 grades. The 11th grade test is a requirement to get a diploma. The 4 and 8 grade tests can be opted out of safely. -- DIBELS: A new K-3 assessment mandated by Hanna Skandera in order for the district to receive K-3 Plus funding. Can be safely opted out of. -- Interim Assessments: Talk to your students teachers about these. Some are useful. To get opt out forms. or EXEMPTION FORMS, for your elementary, middle and high school student, go here for the three different opt-out forms for elementary, middle and high school students: aps.edu/schools/testing Please note there are DEADLINES to opt out. The deadlines are one week before administration. The administration dates are listed in the Assessment by Grade Level document, link above. Opting out is YOUR RIGHT as a parent. Please contact me if a school district employee, school administrator or teacher makes you feel uncomfortable about making this decision for your student. For more information, you can also visit this web site for more information: nmoptout.org V. Volunteer in your school: All of our school volunteers need to get a background check. The wonderful news is that you can now do this online!! The fee is $12 and can be paid online with a credit or debit card. Go here: aps.edu/students-parents to start the process of getting your volunteer clearance. You need a volunteer clearance to be on campus or to be a field trip chaperone. No exceptions. VI. New Teachers, New Principals: You may notice many new faces in our schools, both in leadership positions and classrooms! APS has seen 800-plus teachers and administrators retire and/or resign from July 1, 2013 to Oct. 1, 2014. Many of these folks left because of all the new testing requirements and the unfair evaluation system imposed on our schools by Gov. Martinez and Hanna Skandera. APS still has around 170 holes to fill as we begin a new year. APS is working hard to fill those holes. Its a difficult position to be in as we start a new school year. Please be patient with APS AND if you are inspired to get involved, write a letter to your APS Board of Education members at [email protected]. The Board of Education needs to hear from you and wants to know the frustrations you are experiencing. Otherwise, we cant even address the situation!!!! VII. The APS revised web site: This is much easier to navigate. And the nice thing about our new online presence is that most of our school web sites are also linked to the district web site. Find all this information and more here: aps.edu/
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:20:53 +0000
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