received its first hearing in the Senate Education Committee May 5th. Testimony by the public and questions by the committee showed much more awareness and concern about the affects of high-stakes testing and the Smarter Balanced tests. The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hold a work session on HB 2655 (Opt Out Bill) on Tuesday, May 19th.
This bill in critical for two big reasons.
First, it informs parents in a clear, consistent, and transparent way about the tests students will be expected to take and why, how much time it will take to administer, how the test results will be used, and when testing will take place. Second, it will allow parents to opt their child out of state tests for ANY reason, so parents will no longer be intimidated, have to justify their choice to districts, and it makes the process simple.
One teacher and parent, Mindy Legard Larson PhD from McMinnville, presented her testimony on May 5th with much research. Read about her top ten reasons to support HB2655A .
Oregon SOS thanks Ms. Larson and others who are speaking out against high-stakes testing in Oregon. There is still time to make your voice heard to support HB 2655A. Please and the Senate Education Committee (and cc your State Senator), and tell your story or voice your opinion that parents should have the right to clear and transparent information about high-stakes testing and they should be able to opt their child out for any reason.
Senate Education Committee email addresses:
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(Note: Sen. Roblan is Committee Chair and Sen. Knopp is Vice Chair. Gretchen Engbring is Committee Administrator)