Group wants kids to opt out of state test

Last year, 98.9 percent of Colorado students who were supposed to take state assessment tests did so.

No one can say why a few hundred students didn't take the test, but Don Perl would like to take credit for at least some of the no-shows.

Perl heads the Coalition for Better Education, a Greeley-based nonprofit started in 2004 by a group of aspiring teachers to push for the elimination of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). Its primary emphasis these days is to let parents know they can choose to have their child opt out of the CSAP test.

"We've been successful if even one parent sees the light in what this high-stakes testing is doing to their child," Perl said Friday. "We want parents to know that they have the last say in their children's education."

To call attention to its mission, the coalition put up a billboard Jan. 19 on East Platte Avenue, urging parents to opt out of testing and do "something about this injustice." Other billboards are in the Denver area. The organization sells bumper stickers and buttons and takes donations to support its cause.

Perl, who teaches at the University of Northern Colorado and was a former public school teacher, believes the emphasis on testing puts unneeded stress on students and isn't a valid indicator of achievement. The millions spent on administering tests could be better used by schools, the coalition's Web site says.

The Colorado Department of Education disagrees.

"It's a solid test and it provides an accurate picture of performance," CDE spokesman Mark Stevens said. "It's part of our accountability system, and part of being a Colorado student."

States are required to measure student performance under the federal No Child Left Behind act. Under those rules, if fewer than 95 percent of eligible students fail to take the state assessment, the school does not make "adequate yearly progress." For schools that get extra federal aid, that means less money and possibly a forced restructure of the school.

Colorado is in the process of evaluating its content standards and assessments, with a report due in December. There also has been some push at the federal level to modify No Child Left Behind.

Perl said he's not hopeful that significant change will come out of those actions.