Portland high school students gather to protest standardized tests
PORTLAND, Ore. – Some local high school students protested Oregon’s standardized tests outside Portland Public Schools headquarters Wednesday morning.
The group of about 20 students said they refused to take the tests, and encouraged others to opt out too.
“It takes up a large amount of time and has no relevance to what we’re learning,” said Cleveland High School senior Pele Warnock.
The group, from the Portland Student Union, argued that the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) test doesn’t accurately measure student achievement.
“There are so many other ways they can evaluate me, but these tests don’t show what I’m learning in the classroom,” said student Bria Justus. “They just show what the state thinks I need to know.”
While the students say skipping the test is not a big deal, PPS spokesman Matt Shelby said doing so could affect a student’s ability to graduate.
“The primary way that students do this, prove these skills, is through the state test,” said Shelby. “90 percent in our district last year.”
Parents can choose to have their kids opt out of state testing for religious or disability reasons, Shelby said.
There are other options besides the OAKS test, like handing in work samples, but teachers have to grade those individually.
“If we had a mass-migration over to that category, you’re talking about a lot of extra work for our teachers who are already overworked,” Shelby said.
Shelby said students should also consider that schools are ranked based on those test results.
“People pay a lot of attention,” he said. “People look at those rankings. People make decisions on where they go to school, a lot of times based on those rankings. So the stakes are pretty high for our schools in that regard.”
These tests are completely irrelevent to what we are taught in school. Students are already worried about their class grades and to put them through having to deal with the State tests is moronic. They started doing the State testing when I was in middle school and it caused allot of problems. I am intellegent. But I scored poorly on the tests due to test anxiety. I was told that I would never succeed in college or get a good job because of this. Well guess what.... I graduated with my degree in Criminal Justice last year. I also have a job in my career choice. I feel that I am successful regardless of my stupid State testing scores. Do not judge these students for making a stand. I applaud them for standing up for themselves.
Sixty-eight percent graduation rate state-wide and these kids don't want to take a test? I got news for you: If you don't know what tree sap is by the time you get to high school you really haven't had much of an education. Put down the iPod, X-Box, Playstation, and cell phone and start studying. Otherwise you will be stuck in a job at a fast food joint, gas station, or working as a maid.
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And here is another hint: You will be judged on your performance for the rest of your productive life. Get used to it. If you don't want to compete you will get run over.
People who don't have experience administering these tests don't necessarily understand the inherent flaws in the how they're made and how they're administered.  First, the results are often inaccurate and unreliable, reflecting more on a child's test-taking skills (how to choose between A,B, C, and D) than on any actual knowledge of the material. It's not uncommon for an excellent reader to score badly on a reading test or a poor reader to "pass," just by guessing. Moreover, a student can excel on one of these sorts of tests by getting a lot of the multiple-choice questions right yet do next-to-no work in class but as far as the State is concerned, that kid is a "high achiever." Second, the tests themselves are frequently poorly written and often ask questions which are completely divorced from what is actually being taught. Third, the tests are full of errors that nobody seems to have an ability to report. Fourth, many of the tests are culturally biased --giving a nine year-old born into poverty a question about golf (of all things) -- a subject the child has absolutely no connection with -- meets this definition, I believe. It would be as if we gave every kid in the country everyone a question about the sport of cricket! Who writes these questions anyway, members of golf clubs? Fifth - Constant, repetitive testing and the pressure that goes with it can be emotionally damaging -- especially to young kids. it's not just high schoolers; kids as young as kindergarten-age (English language Learners) are being subjected to these computer-based state tests at a very tender age. OAKS in reading and math is administered (by computer) from third grade on up.  I don't think it's appropriate for eight-year-olds to have to experience the sort of test anxiety that was formerly seen only at higher levels. The students in these protests are smarter than any standardized test could ever measure or give them credit for. They're thinking critically, speaking out, and understand the issues. I salute them.
 @Tony Salm Exactly. In talking to a teacher that used to teach at a less privileged school near North Portland, he told us that one of his students came up to him during the OAKS reading test, and asked what "Tree Sap" was. These tests are completely biased, racist, and insensitive to economic or cultural background. How crazy that we spend millions on these each year.
 @Mikey Garcia Thanks Mikey. Study after study show that these sort of test scores have almost nothing to do with how a kid is taught or who teaches them but they DO correlate with family income, square footage in the home, parents who are available to spend time with the child, and if the child is read to when small. The test questions themselves are reflective of the culture and upbringing of the people who tend to write the questions. Naturally, the upper middle-class demographic is usually the one that brings in the highest scores, irrespective of what goes on within whatever school the kids may attend. Knowing this, what new young teacher in his or her right mind, aware that test scores will make up a major part of the evaluation, would CHOOSE to start a career in a high-poverty neighborhood -- a place where talented educators are sorely needed -- but where test scores are chronically low?
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"Every parent in North America who doubts that a standardized test score accurately reflects the proficiencies and possibilities of his or her child, every parent who worries about the educational consequences of this testing fad, should realize that there is no earthly reason why that child should be sent to school on the days the tests are given. Thatâs the enduring lesson of the civil rights movement: bad practices or unjust laws can continue only with our cooperation and consent. If, having educated and mobilized our neighbors, we withhold that consent and refuse to cooperate in what is being done to (all) our kids, then we can restore sanity to the schools â and, while weâre at it, bring back recess."- Alfie Kohn http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/ohanian.htm
So the people who are being tested should be able to establish the test??
 @Rob C 503 We're asking to be tested by our teachers, not the state. I want to be evaluated by people who know me personally, who strive to know my real abilities to retain and understand material, rather than just being able to see that I can take a test well.
Being evaluated by people who know your real abilities is great, as we all need that feedback and tend to place a lot of relevance to it. However, teachers can only evaluate based upon thier experiences and cultural exposures - and biases. The myriad of vocations students will have the choice of cannot all be taught - even in a small measure in high school. That is why I think these types of tests have been around for so long and continue to be used. We have all experienced them and wondered who the heck came up with these questions. Teaching the basics should be stressed (reading, writing, rithmatic),  the first 2 to 3 years of high school. The final year should not be in high school setting but at a location (academic or vocational) chosen by the student. It is not difficult to determine if someone can read, write, or add with a certain level of proficiency. It is the cultural and educational bias that goes into the tests - sometime by state or region as described by others on this blog, that creates an inequity in our overall educational system in ths country. Just teach the basics - if those are mastered, you can achieve a lot as most of us have learned in life.
 @Mikey Garcia  @Rob C 503 Mikey Garcia, I appreciate your intelligent, thoughtful arguments in this discussion. As an educator, I absolutely support your desire to learn the curriculum and be tested accordingly.Â
  To everyone else, our schools need strong, rich curriculum and students should be tested on that. When teacher jobs and school survival depend on test scores, everybody gets stressed out, the material gets dumbed down, and of course teachers are going to teach to the test. It's a waste of time. If teachers are well-trained in an engaging, well-rounded curriculum, students will do just fine on tests designed by the state according to said curriculum. There is nothing inherently wrong with testing; it's necessary to measure progress. But it's not necessary to stake someone's job on the test of an other person with so many other variables (recent break-up, not enough breakfast, parents fighting, etc). Keep up the good work, Mikey.
 @CoffeeAndWine  @Rob C 503 Thanks for the kind words.
And we keep pouring millions upon millions every year into THIS?
Someone's making out like a bandit...
Dear students, please pack your things and move out of your parents house while you still know everything and your parents are still stupid.
You show em go, girl... Â no really. Just go. Â
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It's obvious these protesters already know everything. Just shuck em out the door with their walking papers. Hopefully they'll get a GED. They can always work at the local Big Mac or clean cars at the local used car dealer. It'll make their parents proud. But then I suppose their parents already put them up to this protest nonsense. More liberals at work, or should I say, protest!
 @jpk Hi jpk,
I am a student at Lincoln High School, have a 4.0 and plan to graduate with flying colors. However, not taking these tests won't hinder me. I plan to get an enriching, challenging curriculum that is not just "let's teach to the standardized tests!". That's absurd. All this will do will improve my education, not standardize it.Â
You're just a little boy, Mikey, a little high school boy. The world is run by adults. You have to do as you're told. When you grow up and become a big boy you will be able to get a job, pay taxes and vote. You can even become a school teacher, join the union, pay dues and buy legislators. Until then, you can say all you want and no one will pay any attention to you.Â
 @hankhandsome Wow. You are insulting. Speaking from one adult to another, high school students are so much smarter than we give them credit for. It is because we have put them in a box that they are accomplishing so little. It's only those like Mikey, who push on the box, that are going to make a difference. What are you doing, hankhandsome, to change this world for the better? Or are you just accepting the slow decline of the status quo? Mikey Garcia is showing considerable more intelligence and maturity than you and even when he enters the real world, he will probably be very successful.
 @hankhandsome A little bit insulting, but I'll take it. I think that youth have a very big voice, so much that for this issue alone we are having several interviews daily, TV and online coverage, etc. It's funny that you say no one is paying attention to my specifically, because look at yourself, you've been reading my comments, devoting a portion of your life to respond to me and tell me your thoughts, and I appreciate that. This will get big, just you watch. I hope that you can help support us in the future. Thanks.
There are things in life that you do because you have to do them. All I'm saying is get there and you will have a say in how things are done. Right now, you are in the process of getting an education....so, go with the flow!
Mikey- I see your point and completely agree. They used my graduating class as a test subject for these ridiculous tests back when I was in middle school. They test nothing relevent to the information we are being taught.
@Mikey Garcia @jpk godwins law in effect. good job.
 @jpk It's less about learning my place in life, you're not above me because you're older. You have much more wisdom than me, I'll give you that, but the young don't have a tired perception of the world; their opinions shouldn't be pushed aside. We are the future, and one day this will be our world. Overall, I think you're making this a bit bigger than it actually is. We're just talking about an unnecessary test here; we want to be evaluated based off of what we actually know, not how well I can take a standardized test. I know my place in life, and it's to improve the world for the next generation. Pretty cool, huh?
This is the end of your attempt at sophomoric logic. I can afford to fly to North Korea, can you? I have no ambition to go there, do you? Take the darn tests, and learn your place in life. When you grow up, you just might understand. For now, over and out! Capisce?Â
 @jpk Again, it's irrelevant to our conversation. But Hilter's basis was the "ideal" world. Maybe you should fly to North Korea and see how much people can conform to society, sounds like you'd love it there! But really this is getting petty; so please answer my questions.
Absurd! Learn history before you spout off at me about what Hitler wanter! Go back to your homework!
 @jpk Go with the flow? Accept society's standards? Do it because I have to? I might as well dye my hair blonde and wear blue contacts, because that's what Hitler wanted.But really, I AM getting an education; taking these tests will not help me! They are so irrelevant to what I am learning! I want to be tested by my teachers, on what I am learning! Is that too much to ask?
Morons.
Boy, is this country in trouble. Â Kids can't read or write or do simple math so they don't want to be tested. Â It would show everyone how dumb they are. Â Sounds like something the teacher's unions would put them up to so there won't be any way to see how incompetent many of the teachers are. Â But, this generation knows all about things that are social. Â That should help them get jobs as greeters at Walmart. Â
 @Shadow I can read. I can write. I can do simple math. I am not "dumb". I have a 4.0; never have gotten a B. I do want to be tested-- I want to take the tests that MY TEACHERS give me; the ones that truly depict my strengths and weaknesses. Standardized tests do not truly evaluate my abilities. My teacher will know if I can read, write, etc. SO WHY HAVE STANDARDIZED TESTS? These tests waste millions (yes, millions) of dollars each year, are time consuming, and I would much rather be in my own classroom, learning.
The standardized tests show how well you shape up against the entire country. Your teacher may be pampering you and giving you a lousy education. You 4.0 average may amount to a 2.0 average vis-a-vis kids in Utah or Montana. Scared to find this out?
Are you learning biology at a 10th grade level? Or are you learning it at a 7th grade level? You could be learning everything your teacher is presenting to you .... but is your teacher presenting material at a level commensurate with your grade level? THAT is one type of info that standardized tests are good for. There are more. Just because YOU don't understand that doesn't make it not true. Â
You, sir, would be most unusual!
 @hankhandsome So you're saying that rather than teaching me the course material for my Biology class, my teacher should just teach to the standardized test for science-- so rather than learning  biology, I can be totally awesome and shape up against Montana or Utah. That's absurd.
 I would much rather be learning Biology and understanding the material that my teacher prepares for me.
There are certain "standards" required of an employee to be able to do. There are "standards" required by colleges for admission. If a few protesting kids are given their way, what's next? Banning the SAT and ACT tests? Banning businesses from making employee's use basic math skills on the job? Ever since I was in second grade, I had to take a state mandated math skills test at the halfway point in the school year. I flunked algebra II but that year I aced the state test, again. It's basic math, folks! Without the basics and being able to do them without a calculator, we are teaching our kids to be stupid! In 1977 you were only allowed a slide rule in trig! Any calculator would get you expelled for cheating! Why should we be any different today with the basics of math?
 @MickRoh No. It's not about the standardization of life; that is a very inaccurate analogy. These are students protesting our education; trying to reach out and speak to our community that we do not want to be evaluated by the irrelevance of the standardized test.You mention that the year you "flunked" Algebra II is the year you did the best on your standardized test. A PERFECT EXAMPLE of why these tests are an inaccurate depiction. Maybe you would've done better in Algebra if you had that extra time in the classroom, not preparing for, or taking those tests.
This is part of the 'dumbing of America'...politicians plan to reduce the learning, then the government can control even more.
 @flyingtime I'm confused why you're generating a conspiracy out of a group of students protesting their education, but I can assure you this is completely student run.
 @Mikey It's funny that we're both named Mikey.Anyways, it's not a lack of discipline, in reality it's a lack of tolerance for a education system in need of reform. We're working to abolish a money-wasting, time-wasting test, so that we can invest more hard work into the learning that happens in the classroom. Makes sense, right?
 @Mikey Garcia It's not a conspiracy, but a reality. And it has nothing to do with standardized tests. It has to do with the laissez-faire attitude and lack of discipline overall in the education system. A few students understand the criticality of attention and discipline in relation to their future lives, but far too many think that they can play it loose and easy and the world will be their oyster. Unfortunately for them, it turns out to be their dumpster.
 @hankhandsome Are you asking me to confirm a government conspiracy? Sorry, no gossip for you here. The student unions involved in this were the creators of this campaign, following behind similar campaigns in New York and other states.
Then why are so many of the signs exactly alike?
I can't believe they aren't protesting crappy schools. With all the money they keep throwing at schools, I would think they would be better than they are.
I can't believe how many of you think that these kids are protesting "taking tests". They are not. They are protesting "A set of tests" that are mandated by law that may or may not have anything to do with what they are actually learning in school. Of course tests are necessary to determine the students comprehension of the subject matter that they are being taught. Unfortunately, these "standardized tests" do not always reflect the curriculum that is being taught in the classsroom. When my daughter was in school (an "A" student) and had to take these tests, she, and many, many other "A" students were mortified when they learned that they failed the tests. It was so bad that a special meeting was held with many of us parents and school administrators present. Now granted, this was back when the special tests were just beginning to be administered. What the kids were being taught and what was on the tests were not in alignment, resulting in good students failing them. Perhaps the teachers have grown lazy and are now teaching only what is covered by these "standardized tests" so they look good. Unfortunately, this means that the kids are not being taught what they really need to know in order to compete in real life. Full disclosure - this was in WA state.
 @wondering  You gotta be freakin' kidding me!  I took the gol dang SAT's and liked it.. or didn't as the case may be. I also took the PSAT and  a few others.  What the haydeez?
If they don't require them, guess what? Â Colleges have fifteen billion other folks to step into line because THEY accept the rigor! Â LIke I did! Â Whether I was having a bad or great day, I took the test and tooks my chances!
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Go ahead and remove the requirement, but at the same moment please relive me of my ONEROUS obligation to fund the leftists who infest the skool distrikt right now, Komrade!
@Muttley  Not sure what you are getting at. At least for the SAT's and the PSAT, you are provided with, or could obtain, study material. These "standardized" tests don't come with study material. Students can only hope that the teachers "teach to the test", which in the beginning, they did not.
 @jpk That's funny you say that "it doesn't mean a thing in the real world", because, what does standardized testing mean in the real world? It means that I sat, along with my classmates for 3 hours, looking at a blaring computer screen. Do jobs take that into account?How about what I actually learned in my 13 years of education? Did I learn to read? Or did I learn to take a test on how to read? I would much rather learn the material than just learn how to look at a monitor all day, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure the job market would sincerely appreciate my knowledge on how to choose between A, B, C or D...
That you have a 4.0 is great. Unfortunately it doesn't mean a thing in the real world. How you use what you have and how you exert yourself in reaching perfection in your eventual career is what will allow you to have money to spend. Moaning and groaning about tests will not help you. What part of "entering the job market" don't you understand? You fill a position to work after you are tested for compatibility and educational experience, the position doesn't get handed to you! Â
 @Tonk Hi Tonk,
I am a student at Lincoln High School, and have a 4.0.I don't believe that standardized testing is an accurate depiction of how teachers are teaching.My teachers could EASILY just teach to the test- have us do drills and drills until we all get perfect scores. But learning how to take that test won't help me with anythingI want to learn the subject that I signed up for! Our schools ARE in need of improvement, and refusing to take these unnecessary tests will show that.
@wondering I believe the point of "standardized" tests is to ascertain the degree which the the students are achieving the educational goals for their grade level. How well they score as a group and the distribution of scores indicates how successful the teachers are teaching and where areas of improvement are needed both for the individual students and the school as a whole.Â
As an educator of high school students, I agree that many are unmotivated and entitled. Â I agree that many students have a rude awakening for them after high school when no one will be holding their hand, handing them success on a platter. Â However, I also suggest that standardized testing is one thing that is contributing to the lack of motivation and entitlement (other things being parental views on education, political correctness, the fact that working and making money seems more relevant than school, peer pressure, etc). High stakes testing has been under fire for years because of the time it takes away from strong curriculum content that cannot be measured so simplistically. Â I actually think protests coming from students makes the argument against such testing stronger. Â Our schools (and society) could do better at educating the whole teenager: academically, spiritually, and emotionally. Â We are not one-sided beings.
 @CoffeeAndWine  nnnnoooo.,. oBAHHHH MA  will be holding their hands, from cradle to grave!  What'u talkin' 'bout, Willis?  I didn't have to cram for the tests!  I studied my arse off from First Grade to TWELFTH GRADE, with NO BREAKS IN BETWEEN, capiche? Consequently I am VERY successfull BECAUSE I was serious about school since I got rid of the bed-wetting thing, hmmmmkay? And the test results, overall, reflected that.
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