Will Home Schooled and Private Schooled Students Have to Take Common Core Assessments?

What happens when "choice" schools can't choose their own assessments due to legislative action?  What kind of choice is that for students and parents?  They will have the same education from either traditional public or "choice" schools.

There is some concerning news coming from Florida regarding private school testing requirements that bears watching not only in that state but other states as well.  There has been concern raised to Governor Scott by a private school administrator in Deland about possible testing changes in store for private schools.

From grumpythings.blogspot.com:

The smooth system of transferring credits from private schools to public schools has apparently been eliminated. According to an email sent to Governor Scott, the Volusia County Director of Assessment informed the Trinity Christian Academy in Deltona that credit will not be given to private school students who transfer to public school for courses, such as Algebra and Biology, because the standardized end-of-course tests are not available to them. If this information is correct, the Florida legislature, Commissioner of Education, and State School Board, by an act of incompetence or by design, have removed all alternative testing measures available to students in a private school that would serve in lieu of end-of-course-exams, leaving students unable to graduate from a public high school.

"Standardized end-of-course (EOC) tests" can be translated into Common Core assessments....meaning  the private school needs to utilize curriculum that tests well on Common Core assessments, otherwise, their students transitioning into public school settings will not receive credit for those private school courses.

The blogger continues:

Is this lapse a way to insert Florida's controversial testing and accountability system into private schools and exert control over religious schools? Will the standardized end-of-course requirement ultimately be required of all schools, public and private? Does the requirement apply to homeschoolers who transfer back to public school?

Bob Sikes, writing in Scathing Purple Musings: 

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Florida Governor Rick Scott followed through on his promise to be more open and created Project Sunburst, a web site which would publish the emails he receives and sends as governor. One email easily catches the eye of education policy observers across the state. It’s from a director of students affairs at a Florida private school.

Dear Governor Scott:

I am an administrator in a SACS accredited private school. Recently, laws have been passed requiring End of Course (EOC) assessments for classes such as Algebra I and Biology. I have been informed that students leaving our school will be denied credit for these classes because the EOC is not available to them, nor is there an alternative test that can be taken. This seems unfair to me since our students’ families pay their taxes as much as public school students.

What’s more, these families bear the cost of education that our government would have had to carry. Private school students should not be penalized for choosing to go to Florida’s private schools. Again, I have been informed by Volusia County Director of Assessments that our students who have received credit for these classes on their transcripts, will not be given credit in a Florida public school if they should transfer. Also, we could not give an EOC ourselves because it would not be a state standardized test. What are we to do?

On another front, given the current failure rate of Florida students on these tests, it seems short sighted to not have an alternative plan for these students. Our public school system will be burdened with students repeating classes and Florida’s drop-out rate will increase. There are many students who are poor test takers, but excellent students. I have seen these students flourish in college, but now, these same students would probably not have a chance to graduate in order to go to college. How does this benefit our state?

I would appreciate an answer to this email. Thank-you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,
Darlene Hellender, MS of Ed
Director of Student Affairs
Trinity Christian Academy, Deltona

There are countless imperfections to the “choice” theme which drives Florida’s policymakers. Clearly concerned for her students, Hellender knows that Trinity’s students may return to public schools for any number of reasons. The accountability system that republicans have rammed down Floridian’s throats puts voucher and private school students in a serious  Catch-22. They could certainly take the test when they get to their new school, but they would be at a significant disadvantage as they did not go through an Algebra of Biology class which covered the standards which would be on the test.  Extending EOCs and other high stakes tests to private schools defeats the purpose for families who chose private schools to get away from tests.

Meanwhile Floridians will vote on Amendment 8 – the fraudulently named Religious Freedom Act – which will open the door for vouchers to schools like Trinity. The school’s SAC’s accreditation indicates it’s a fine school and the professional concern that Hellender has for her students is commendable. There are sure to be more instances where Florida’s test obsession puts families and children who are going to private schools or have vouchers in a bind.

It’s doubtful that Jeb Bush’s foundation doesn’t want Floridians to know about such problems when they vote on Amendment 8 in less than 80 days. They afterall named it in such a misleading way to begin with. Suppressing flaws, engaging in propaganda and attempting to trick voters is the way education privatization zealots roll.

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The question and concern then is this:

there is a quiet effort underway to slip the common core standards, assessment, and database into private schools. Vouchers and the Blaine Amendment are connected to this.

Ms. Hellender understands the danger of governmental interference in her school's testing decisions.  All of a sudden those vouchers that give parents "choice"....don't really give them "choice" at all when it comes to what their children are learning.  What their children learn in private school must adapt to the assessments mandated by the government.

Tomorrow we'll have a story about how Missouri legislators may have tried this same trick this past session.  It possibly could have affected home schoolers and required them to take common core assessments for credit.

Rick Scott is Making a Splash in Florida Education Waters

Whether you agree with it or not, this is a radical move for the governor elect in Florida:

Newly elected Florida Gov. Rick Scott is making waves with his proposal that all children should receive education vouchers they can use to attend private, public or charter schools.

Many school choice advocates are pushing for school choice, but only as it pertains to charter schools which still must operate under federal mandates. Private schools are not under such mandates which make this proposal that much more intriguing. I would think this would also apply to homeschooling parents as Scott stated:

"The parent should figure out where the dollars for that student are spent," the Republican governor-elect told the St. Petersburg Times. "So if the parents want to spend it on virtual school, then spend it on virtual school. If they want to spend it on, you know, whatever education system they believe in, whether it's this public school or that public school or this private school or that private school, that's what ought to happen."

Read the article and let us know what you think.

Did you think the health care debate was heated? The original article regarding Scott's remarks was posted at 5:24 ET. By 8:44 PM ET, there were 232 reader comments. This tells me education is of high interest to many Americans and they are weary of failing systems. Readers have differing opinions, but everyone agrees something radical must occur in delivering education to our students.

The Sunshine State, An Albatross and Teenage Wasteland

We recently blogged about Governor Elect Rick Scott toying with the idea of providing educational vouchers to all Florida students. We wondered if he were one of the true revolutionaries in the public education arena.

He and the Florida Legislature may be partners in this educational revolution. Read this blog from The Pacific Research Institute comparing Florida's education rankings to those of California. Dr. Vicki Murray compares testing results from these two states and she details the disparities between them. She writes:

Florida pursued those reforms from the top down through state testing and from the bottom up through parental choice—and they did so with strong bipartisan support. Overall, Florida’s approach emphasized standards for schools, transparency for parents, and immediate options for students most at risk. That includes children trapped in chronically failing schools, from low-income families, from the foster-care system, and children with disabilities.

On the other coast, California has refused to adopt large scale reforms that would allow students to attend schools their parents—not bureaucrats or special interest groups—think are best. The time has come for change. California’s new crop of legislators should learn from Florida’s success and enact reforms based on equal access for all students to great teachers and high-performing schools.

Does it occur to you that it's not systems requiring more mandates, layers of bureaucracy, and billions of dollars that will allow students to truly learn? Instead of Dr. Murray's titling her piece "Lessons from Florida for California's New Legislators", I would suggest she rename it to "Lessons from Florida for California's New Legislators AND the Department of Education". If states cannot rid themselves of this albatross of an agency around their necks, at least the states should educate the Federal Government what works in their state, what type of education allows their students to succeed, and doesn't force the states into unfunded mandates that only promote more bureaucracy.

Free the students from the "Teenage Wasteland". Free the states from unfunded mandates and increasing federal control.

Florida Governor Elect Rick Scott--Revolutionary in Disguise?

Now this is something to ponder.

Rick Scott, governor elect of Florida, "has the idea of giving vouchers to all students, essentially ending public education as it is known everywhere else in the country and the world."

Scott is putting forth a choice for taxpayers on how their tax dollars should be spent for their children. It is amazing and radical for a governor to go against the "status quo" of today's educational push...the rush to common core standards and Race to the Top funding.

Read the comments from this Politico piece. Readers have differing opinions on the use of public money for education.

What do you think?