Last year, parents were encouraged to exercise their right to refuse the test known as the Alaska Measures of Progress-- or AMP. This year we are encouraging parents to do the same thing. For those parents new to Alaska, the AMP is Alaska's version of the PARCC, SBAC, and SAGE test. It is a computer adaptive test given in March and April to students in 3rd through 10th grade to comply with a federal grant requirements related to the Elementary and Secondary Education Program (ESEA).
The AMP should not be confused with the MAP, or Measures of Academic Progress. The MAP is used by many districts as a placement test. Placement tests are an entirely different entity--this website does not address the MAP, but it does address the AMP.
We have a suggested letter parents can use, or you can obviously write your own.
Why Refuse the Alaska Measures of Progress?
1) The test is not a valid measure of student progress. There have been repeated requests by the various people to the Alaska Department of Education for the documents demonstrating that the test meets professional standards of fairness, validity, and reliability. There have been no documents forthcoming that meet the professional standards of testing.
The only mechanism for demonstrating this was to add performance standards to the testing. The addition of these standards would have made the test developmentally inappropriate and cost prohibitive. The Mat-Su School Board had meetings on these performance standards.
2) The data is shared without parent or student consent and placed in a longitudinal data base for the purpose of tracking students. This data base correlates the AMP scores with wage data from the Department of Labor, Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend data, and Higher Education Data. It may also correlate other information collected regarding students. The data is housed in a way that is personally identifiable, or "unit level."
While the grant for this data base was suppose to expire in June 2015, it seems the grant was extended. Commissioner Hanley indicated at a meeting in May 2015 in Anchorage that he closed the door between the P-20W and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development data set. However, the Commissioner appears to have had a change of heart, and the data set is still active with student data being added.
Don't let school officials or the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development confuse the conversation on this data with the district report card--that is aggregated data. That is entirely different from the P-20W ANSWERs project-- this is personally identifiable data, or "unit level record" data.
3) The AMP is a computer adaptive test. It was designed to measure the performance of the teacher and the school--but becomes part of your student's permanent record. The accountability measures have been greatly relaxed by new federal legislation, making the AMP and similar tests much less important. This test is being retired, and will not be used in subsequent years. The Commissioner has resigned, and the Obama Administration will be gone next year. The administration of this test is no longer necessary. While school officials may be required to administer the test, parents have the right to refuse the test for their child.
Why should a flawed metric become part of your child's permanent record?
4) The AMP is an computer adaptive test. The American Enterprise Institute, the group that owns the computer adaptive technology, has stated repeatedly that the test discriminates against students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Why would you want your child to participate in such a test?
Parents Have The Right to Refuse AMP Testing
WITHOUT Retribution
Commissioner Hanley in October 2015
Former School Board President Esther Cox
(start at the 4:44 mark)
Chairman of the Senate Education Committee Mike Dunleavy
What does a parent need to do in order to refuse testing?
Some districts have a form for parents to fill out to refuse the test and others do not. However, the AMP administrator test booklet issued last year stated on page 112 that a parent could send a note, call the school, or email the school. It is recommended that parents refuse the test in a way that they can document. Also make certain the school knows that you are also refusing testing on make-up days. Last year, several families that had refused the test found out later that their student had taken the test on a make-up day.
The right to refuse (sometimes called opt-out) is a right that flows from the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that parents possess the “fundamental right” to “direct the upbringing and education of their children.” The Court stated that “the child is not the mere creature of the State: those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-35)
The Supreme Court criticized a state legislature for trying to interfere “with the power of parents to control the education of their own.” (Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 402.) In Meyer, the Supreme Court held that the right of parents to raise their children free from unreasonable state interference is one of the unwritten “liberties” protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (262 U.S. 399).
In recognition of both the right and responsibility of parents to control their children’s education, the Court has stated, “It is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for the obligations the State can neither supply nor hinder.” (Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158).
Griswold v. Connecticut emphasized that the state cannot interfere with the right of a parent to control his child’s education, and that the right to educate one’s child as one chooses is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. The Court further stated that this right was applicable by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The choice to refuse is up to you.
https://tinyurl.com/NOAMP4ME
The right to refuse (sometimes called opt-out) is a right that flows from the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that parents possess the “fundamental right” to “direct the upbringing and education of their children.” The Court stated that “the child is not the mere creature of the State: those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-35)
The Supreme Court criticized a state legislature for trying to interfere “with the power of parents to control the education of their own.” (Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 402.) In Meyer, the Supreme Court held that the right of parents to raise their children free from unreasonable state interference is one of the unwritten “liberties” protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (262 U.S. 399).
In recognition of both the right and responsibility of parents to control their children’s education, the Court has stated, “It is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for the obligations the State can neither supply nor hinder.” (Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158).
Griswold v. Connecticut emphasized that the state cannot interfere with the right of a parent to control his child’s education, and that the right to educate one’s child as one chooses is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. The Court further stated that this right was applicable by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The choice to refuse is up to you.
https://tinyurl.com/NOAMP4ME
