Mickelson: Don't blame teens or their parents for teacher-driven opt-out movement

The opt-out movement against standardized testing in public schools has hit the gilded streets of Southwest Minneapolis. Parent activist Lynnell Mickelson has seen first hand that it isn't a grassroots movement from concerned parents, but an effort of school staff to sabotage Minnesota's soft drive for public school accountability.One of her neighbor's daughters recently came home with an opt-out form received from her high school teacher.

According to the girl, her 10th-grade English teacher had handed out the forms to everyone in class and had urged them to get their parents to sign it. The teacher said that if enough students opted out of the Minnesota Comprehensive Exams, eventually the state would stop giving them. He also said he’d conduct regular classes for everyone opting out, leaving the impression that those who took the test would fall behind.

The high school student pleaded with her parents to let her opt-out. They initially rejected the idea but were eventually worn down by the teenager. She prevailed.Mickelson sees that story for what it is.We can't blame students for wanting to get out of a task they don't like. That's the nature of being teens. We can't blame well-to-do parents for luxuriating their children with permissiveness. That is the nature of being privileged parents.But, the teachers though....

...there are two more ways of getting rid of the [achievement] gap.

• Option No. 1: We can change our schools to better fit the needs of students in the 21st century.

• Option No. 2: We can stop collecting the incriminating data. No evidence. No gap. No need to change a thing.

I can see why the teachers unions like Option No. 2, since this group is notoriously resistant to change. So let’s stop pretending this is all about the terrors of testing and the loss of childhood and creativity, etc., because —

...Historically, teachers have never had a problem with so-called “high-stakes” or “high-stress” testing. Hell, this is the profession that invented the dreaded final exam and surprise pop-quiz. Nor is standardized testing something new. The SAT exams were introduced in 1926. The Iowa Basic Skills Test, which even I, an ancient crone, took back in my elementary days, was first administered in 1935.

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