Mapleton School District School Board Advises Parents to Opt
Their Children Out of Spring Smarter Balanced Standardized Tests
Mapleton Board of Education
Resolution Supporting the Opt-Out Option for Smarter Balanced Testing
We, the Mapleton Board of Education, given our responsibility to safeguard and guide the education of Mapleton students, find that the administering of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests (SBAC) at this time of pandemic to be inappropriate and harmful to students, their families and to the school community.
For the following reasons, we encourage parents to opt their children out of these tests:
1. The tests create mental stress for students at the exact time we’re trying to restore emotional health.
2. The tests will be meaningless:
• They can’t provide a legitimate comparison to last year or next year;
• They will not be administered in the controlled conditions that have been mandated in the past;
• It is highly unlikely that there will be a 95% participation rate for validity as required in the past;
• The tests won’t provide any meaningful data about equity or achievement gaps – the stated main reason for their use.
It is therefore the Board’s recommendation that Mapleton parents and guardians strongly consider exercising their right, under House Bill 2655, to opt out their student from the Smarter Balanced tests.
