DeKalb student: Wish I could opt out of state tests

Nationwide, many parents are opting their children out of the state testing now under way.

The opt-out movement is growing as parents question whether the high-stakes tests begun under No Child Left Behind are worth the stress their children experience. While No Child has gone away, the high-stakes testing remains.

In Georgia, testing laws are not designed to accommodate parents who want to opt their kids out testing, but parents do it anyway. However, it mostly occurs at the elementary school level.

A student from DeKalb’s Lakeside High school explains why it is not happening at the high school level.

She says, “Each Georgia Milestones test counts toward 20 percent of our total grade. So, if I refused to take the American Literature End of Course test, I presume the state would give me a zero for that percentage, dropping my grade significantly.”

To read more about this issue, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.

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Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com