angryNow districts are telling parents that the students who refuse the PARCC test will remain in the testing room but can only read "district-approved" books during that time. Specifically, only nonfiction.
My comment was a suggestion that parents who opt out keep kids at home and take them to the library or bookstore so they can select a book of their CHOICE. This would not work in Texas, because all books and materials have to be covered up in the testing area. Heaven forbid a kid might see the title of a book (I'll Give You the Sun) and be able to intuit an answer to a question on the test (how do you determine the volume of a cylinder?). There is a deeper problem here, of course. Part of me wonders if district administrators see having to read a book (especially a NF selection) as punishment. "Won't take the test, eh? Then, here, kid, read this!"
It is also interesting to see the response to the opt-out movement. Here in Texas, parents have been cautioned against opting out and told about measures that could be taken (including labeling students as truant, changing class rankings, etc.), but quietly there is growing support here and in other places. If this movement manages to take hold, parents will realize their power, I think. Right now, the bully tactics of threats, though, are causing some parents to reconsider.
I am relieved my own kids are far removed from this madness. But that does not ameliorate my concerns for this madness and how it affects kids.