Websites

grassroots-education movement

Grassroots Education Movement (GEMNYC) is an organization of educators, parents, students and communities, which seeks to bring these groups together around issues permeating New York City’s public education system. GEMNYC is focused primarily on issues such as equality and rights for both teachers and school workers. Topics of discussion include resolving problems with charter schools, union rights, school closures, and, more recently, high-stakes testing.1

timeout

Time Out From Testing is a statewide conglomerate of parents, educators, businesses, communities and civil rights organizations throughout New York State. It is advocating for a “time out” of high-stakes testing in the realm of public education, and is particularly interested in a “time-out” of the standardized test known as Regents exams, which are statewide tests distributed to 4th and 8th graders. The organization believe that the tests are flawed in their grading systems and thus negatively impact students, schools and communities.2

change the stakes

Change the Stakes (CTS) is a coalition of parents and educators who are dedicated to ensuring that children receive the best possible education, something that cannot be quantified through test-taking. CTS is concerned with the amount of attention and pressure put on test taking, as well as the misrepresentation of the results. Even though this group is opposed to high-stakes testing, they do believe there should be valid assessments of students, teachers and schools.3

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save our schools NJ

Save Our Schools NJ is a non-partisan, statewide organization in New Jersey comprised of over 20,000 parents. This organization believes that every student deserves a good education, that it is the state’s responsibility to publicly fund that education, and that the primary goal of public schools should be students’ growth and development. Also, they believe that community members should have the power to regulate these funded schools. They are also opposed to high-stakes testing for a variety of reasons, which includes that the scores have the power to close schools, fire teachers and administration, allocate money to schools, or prevent students from moving to the next grade. Also, the test do not benefit student education, they negatively impact long-term learning and motivation, foster stress, cause teachers to teach to the test, therefore decreasing the amount of time dedicated to learning.4

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Choose to Refuse NJ is a group of parents throughout New Jersey that are concerned with students’ education, teacher and school evaluations, and high-stakes testing. It is advocating to stop high-stakes testing in the belief that it makes teachers, schools and districts narrow and lessen the difficulty of the curriculums in the schools. It also forces teachers to teach to the test, rather than ensure that students are learning. This site provides concerned individuals with five easy steps to opt out or refuse the tests.5

save our schools oregon

Oregon Save Our Schools is an organization of community members throughout the state of Oregon. It was founded on the principles of the Save Our Schools Movement, which argues for equal funding of all public schools and systems, the elimination of high-stakes testing, the incorporation of teachers, families and communities into public education policies, including input by the community on curriculums and ensuring that all schools have qualified educators. The organization is also associated with Parents Across America, which advocates for equal funding among public schools, as well as diversity and parental involvement. Its primary mission is to stop high-stakes testing in the state, which it believes does not accurately assess students’ learning, and is used by the state to determine if schools meet their standards and thus is a way to control funding and narrow curriculums.6

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more than a score

More Than A Score is a group of parents, teachers and community members who are focused on testing in Chicago. This organization is concerned with the scale, expense and consequences of high-stakes testing, therefore is pushing for the elimination of tests in public education. To further its efforts to stop testing, it has joined with the organizations, Parents 4 Teachers, Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), Raise Your Hand, and the Chicago Teachers Union. More Than A Score’s website includes a template on how to opt out of high-stakes testing.7

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TAMSA

Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment (TAMSA) is a statewide initiative of parents whose mission is to improve public education through better student assessments, greater productivity in the classroom, and better use of public funds. TAMSA is concerned with student classroom environments that dedicate too much time to standardized tests, resulting in less time for instruction, exploration and creativity. Given their issues with regard to testing, TAMSA is attempting to decrease the number of End-of-Course (EOC) exams, to change STAAR testing and to eliminate the grade component of the tests because they are worth 15% of students’ final grade.8

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re-thinking

Re-Thinking Testing Mid-Hudson Region is a New York-based organization of educators, parents and community members who are against high-stakes testing and want to improve funding in the schools. Its main objective is to educate people on how high-stakes testing negatively impacts students, schools and public education; inform communities about the fiscal effect of testing on school budgets and taxes; and to make parents aware that high-stakes testing is taking resources away from after-school programs.9

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