By Samantha Sanchez
Staff Writer
California State Standards requested Mira Costa juniors to take the new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Common Core standardized tests, but many Costa students made the choice to opt out of taking these tests this year. Their decision to do so may potentially negatively affect not only themselves, but Costa as a whole.
From May 14-22, the junior class took the SBAC Common Core test. One hundred seventy-nine out of 608 students opted out of the exam, meaning they made the decision to not take the test at all. Students opted out of testing by printing an online form, having their parents and themselves sign it and then turning it into the Costa administration.
According to Costa Vice Principal Marianne Ramos, because so many students opted out, Costa will not receive a baseline score for its Academic Performance Index, which allows the school to set an annual target for growth. The negative effect this year’s opt out will have on Costa is unknown, but Costa’s administration is sure the effect will be detrimental.
According to Ramos, the state education system may possibly withdraw funding for Costa’s high-achieving programs since Costa does not have a baseline score. If this possibility becomes a reality, then the entire student body will be affected because the lack of funding harms all students.
If Costa had announced that opting out would prevent the school from receiving a baseline and would negatively affect the school’s programs, students may have been incentivized to take the test instead of opting out. Not blatantly stating this crucial information in some form is unfair to the junior class and the rest of Costa. Costa should have been made clear the negative effects of opting out.
As stated by Science Department Chair Jessica Bledsoe, if the majority of students opt out of taking the test, then those who are taking the exam are more pressured to do well. If students continue to opt out in years to come, it will create less room for students to make errors because it may lower the scores of the school in the future.
Close to 200 colleges will now be using the applicant’s Smarter Balanced scores as part of the acceptance process, according to SBAC. This only increases the importance of students taking these tests since it will affect how all students from Costa will be viewed if the school is unable to achieve an API score.
According to the SBAC, it is likely the number of colleges will continue to increase. If Common Core tests are eventually going to be required to apply for college, it is an additional incentive for the students to try and decrease the number of those who opt out of SBAC testing so that students are on a fair playing field when applying to colleges. However, if students were never informed of the negative effects, they would have no real encouragement to take the test and do well.
Common Core testing is going to continue in the future, so it is important that Costa gets actual results and data regarding SBAC testing so SBAC can learn from and improve the test for next year’s takers and allow Costa to maintain its high API.
The Common Core test will continue to be implemented at Costa despite the large number of students that opted out. Ultimately, it is important students recognize the negative impact that opting out may have on Costa’s current and incoming students.
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