There was an interesting exchange on Twitter regarding opting out of the EOG in North Carolina.  It was launched by this tweet, in which the user tagged NC’s Superintendent and CCSSO President, Dr. Atkinson.

Ok NC Dept of Ed, (@DrJuneAtkinson), if 4th grader aces BOG, all Benchmarks & has A’s in AIG classes, what’s the exit mechanism for EOG?

— Dirk (@DirkNC) May 13, 2015

@DirkNC EOGs required by state & federal law to take a snapshot of how schools are preparing students. EOGs are not part of student’s grade — June Atkinson (@DrJuneAtkinson) May 13, 2015

@DrJuneAtkinson Thx, appreciate response. Unfortunate when kids are guinea pigs for school eval. Should grant EOG=5, let him go to library.

— Dirk (@DirkNC) May 13, 2015

EOG’s take a snapshot of where the student has been, not where they are going. Everything I have read about them indicate are not used for much beyond grading the school’s performance and federal requirements for funding and grants.

Reminder:

“The State Board of Education shall adopt the tests for grades three through 12 that are required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant.”

One could argue the EOG helps catch issues with kids not learning what they need to, but when given at the end of the year, it’s a bit too late. In my opinion, quarterly or regular formative assessments seem to be the way to go.

Formative assessments that are built into or disguised as daily activity as to be the least invasive or pressuring on the student and directly impact instruction in the present make sense.

For the record, I do not advocate collecting data on any assessments beyond use in the local classroom. States need to stop handing over pounds of our flesh from our kids to the Fed for more money.

EOG’s start in 3rd grade, by the way folks.  They are given to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. By the time you get to 5th grade, you have an EOG in science, which is in addition to math and reading.

The conversation started by @DirkNC continued and another parent joined in.

Like other parents, @Leslielam had been told that the EOG was 20% of their child’s grade and warned that opting out will hurt their school. @DirkNC wanted to know if there was a penalty for pulling their kid from the test.

In response to @Leslielam and @DirkNC’s questions, Dr. Atkinson makes a distinction about End of Course and End of Grade tests in response:

@leslielam @DirkNC End of course tests count as part of student grade. End of grade tests (EOGs) do not count, unless school opts to do so

— June Atkinson (@DrJuneAtkinson) May 13, 2015

You will get statutes and policy out of DPI.

I will refer the reader to the letter March 25, 2014 letter from DPI’s Rebecca Garland to Superintendents on the topic of Opting Out.

DPI will blame the State Board of Ed and the legislature.

That seems to be the general response from DPI when questioned about anything — ‘they made us do it!’

But hey, you guys, leave DPI alone!!!!

Overall though, an interesting conversation. Parents should start with the original tweet and read the rest.

Intersting conversation on testing & EOG… #nced #optout pic.twitter.com/fKWgOP1zpa

— A.P. Dillon – LL1885 (@LadyLiberty1885) May 15, 2015

Related Reading: Opting Out Of Tests In North Carolina – PT II