PLEASE WATCH videos of these brave legislators who asked to return the testing bills to pre-amended versions, offering true opt out protection to all schools, teachers, students and reduce testing to the least possible: federal minimum. After watching, please thank these legislators.
Video:
Senators Marble and Laura Woods ask Senate to listen to parents, reduce testing
Senator Michael Merrifield
Senator Nancy Todd
Senator Tim Neville
Rep Justin Everett
Rep Paul Lundeen
PARCC NOTE : At a May 5, 2015 special state board meeting to hear the effect of PARCC on students and teachers, PARCC representative Dr. Derek Briggs commented that we need a quality test, one that is worthy of being taught to and building a curriculum for. He also stated that PARCC should not have been implemented so quickly. It should have had 3-5 years of pilot implementation, with teacher feedback to make necessary changes before using PARCC scores for teacher and student evaluation. Listen here.
The year started off with MANY bills related to Common Core, PARCC / testing and data mining. But even before the bills rolled out-- listen to Gov. Hickenlooper, April 10, 2014 Mike Rosen show with a parent caller, discussing Common Core, Parcc and testing on Mike Rosen radio show last year. Listen to the whole 4 minutes and count how many times Hickenlooper offers to "opt out" of common core testing (parcc) and how he will help slow it all down, listen to parents.
Hickenlooper: "We can opt out of all kinds of things in common core."
Hickenlooper: "We can opt out of anything."
THE BILLS
SB223 Opt out bill To hold all parties harmless when a parent exercised existing right to opt their child out of sate mandated test and required schools to provide protocol on how they handle parent opt outs. Had huge bipartisan support, passing senate ed committee, on an 8-1 vote with Senator Mike Johnston as the only opposing vote. Johnston and paid lobbyists argued that Colorado would lose $360 million of Federal Funds, would encourage opt outs, Colorado would not be able to measure children and compare data if this bill were to pass. However, several others pointed out during testimony that Johnston and the lobbyists were mistaken. (No school or district anywhere in the country has ever been penalized for failing to test enough (95%) of its students. Additionally, seven states have existing policy/law allowing opt out and they have not lost funding, nor did their opt out rates increase. As members of the 1202 assessment task force point out during this December 2014 meeting, there is no need to test every student, every year; to think that student scores will be that different from 9th grade to 10th grade is a fallacy. There are many formative tests available, with immediate results that can be compared across the state and the nation.) The bill went onto House Ed Committee where it was defeated on a 6-5 vote to kill the bill, under many of the same mistaken points made by Senator Johnston.
Before the bill was killed, proponent Dominick Moreno said, "We need to support kids, honor rights of parents, protect teachers." He introduced an amendment protecting kids who are excused /opted-out from tests --asking schools to allow these excused children to be at school during testing window. Amendment passed, but Garnett, Fields, Wilson voted no.
Biggest opponents of the bill lobbyists Stand for Children, Colorado Children's Campaign, Colorado Succeeds, Senator Mike Johnston, Rep.Kevin Priola, Rep. Jim Wilson, Rep. Millie Hamner, Rep Alec Garnett
Rep Kevin Priola introduced a PENALIZING Amendment asking for districts to lose PPR $ for any student who opt out, because as he notes, there is currently no penalty to parents who opt their children out, perhaps they need incentive. This Priola amendment for penalty, ON A BILL THAT ASKS TO HOLD ALL HARMLESS, failed 10 to 1.
Rep Jim Wilson, "This is the most bizzarre bill this session. It's wrong if kids are bullied for opting out, but I am still voting no."
Rep Hamner, "I have been a no from the beginning. We can't let parents off the hook"
====================================================
SB15-173, Student data privacy bill (This was the third student data privacy transparency bill this session. Other two got killed by House Ed Committee here and here). After much negotiation, SB15-173 was crafted with input from industry, parent, and education stakeholders. SB15-173 aligned with the national SIIA industry privacy pledge set forth by Congressman Jared Polis which over 137 vendors have signed, agreeing to not sell children's data, not use the data for targeted advertising and to be transparent about the collection and use of data. SB173 also followed guidance from the U.S. Department of Education best practices for achieving transparency with data. This bipartisan (Chris Holbert, Dan Pabon) bill flawlessly passed the Senate after hours of testimony supporting the bill, in a unanimous vote was drastically changed by an amendment (L026 written for online industry) introduced by the bill's co-sponsor Representative Dan Pabon (D) in the Colorado House Education committee. Rep Dan Pabon, worked with Microsoft, Google, K12 inc, Facebook to create an amendment that was added to the bill by a 9-3 vote in the House Education Committee. This amendment removed nearly all aspects of transparency and gave more data mining rights to the industry. This bill would have been dangerous for Colorado kids. The senate took the bill back, prime sponsor Chris Holbert asked to adhere to original version of bill and it passed narrowly out of senate. "I believe there is not a reason to call a conference committee because the bill has just gone in two different directions," Senator Chris Holbert said. Senator Holbert also said, "It’s better for the bill to die than to make parent groups mad by passing the House version or to antagonize the technology industry by passing the Senate version."
The bill went back to the House. Rather than allow schools and parents the transpsarency of what data is collected, who it is shared with, and to prohibit the sale of student data, the House chose to kill the original bill. This is not an isolated event. This article discusses the corporate take over of this bill in CO. Nearly identical amendments have appeared in other states who have introduced privacy bills this session. Almost exact wording appears in privacy amendments for Oregon and Maryland, CO, WA, GA, AZ and they all bear striking resemblance to this model legislation from Jeb Bush's ExcelinEd. Google was flown out to testify against the Colorado bill; see the Google rep's testimony below. It is startling to hear him avoid answering questions like: Does Google read student emails? Do you data mine?) Biggest supporters: Holbert, Lundeen, Everett, Garnett, Woods*, Marble, Kefalas, Steadman, Neville.
(*Senator Laura Woods carried crucial amendment for parents to add transparency piece to original bill. )
Biggest Opposition Dan Pabon, lobbyists for online industry, K12inc online schools, Microsoft, Google, Facebook.
Worth noting that multiple school districts, ACLU, CASB, CDE, Electronic Frontier Foundation, privacy experts, even federal legislators are supportive of the original SB173 version that passed the senate unanimously.
Read support for transparency and Senate Version of SB173 -and why we need to try again next year.
Letter from National EFF opposing Pabon amendment
Letter from JeffCo School District I.T Dept/ CIO opposing Pabon amendment
Congressman Polis incorporated Colo transparency in his Federal bill for Student transparency and privacy
VIDEOS of Google rep, Ron Barnes, testifying against student data privacy SB173 in Colo House Ed April 15, 2015 Google testimony here:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkb-ClIiIis&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmcP3r1c35A&feature=em-upload_owner
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMtj4Mhjbfk&feature=youtu.be
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC6aS0zaYN0
5. Audio of Rep Pabon offering to remove transparency while Rep Garnett demands protection of kids
====================================================
TESTING BILLS
There were at least 13 testing bills introduced. Most were not heard until very late in the session. This article has a great table of testing bills introduced this session, along with a description of what the bill did. Many bills claimed to address the consensus of the legislative HB14-1202 Standards and Assessments Task Force. However, if you followed the task force at all, you would know that there was no consensus. Days before the final report was presented, there were several who outwardly expressed concern over the "drift" in the report. Be sure to listen to the audio of this last January 23 meeting. To see actual votes (The task force majority voted against state mandated testing in grades 9, 11, 12.) read more here.
In the end, there were two big bills remaining: SB257 and HB1323. Below is a brief overview of original version of each bill. Then go on to see how the bills were changed to mirror each other on the final 3 days of the legislature. Both of these bills were quickly and quietly amended, but only one passed and was sent to the Governor: amended HB1323
Original SB257 Senators Hill and Merrifield, Holbert, Marble, Neville T., Todd, Merrifield, Woods Representatives Becker J. and Singer
goes down to federal minimum of testing
allows paper pencil for state mandated tests if PARENT asks
does read act tests only once if test proficient, instead of multiple times per year
schools can choose from a battery of local assessments in lieu of state assessment
districts can apply for pilot waivers (like NH waiver pilot)
No SB191 accountability tied to parcc 2014/2015, plus additional 3 years hold harmless option
alternative assessment for Eng Language learners (for up to 3 yrs)
alternative assessment for student w disabilities
repeals post secondary/workforce readiness assessments
**will move accountability towards formative tests, authentic assessments that are more locally based**
Original HB1323 Buckner and Wilson, Duran, Fields, Garnett, Hamner, Lee, Moreno, Pettersen, Priola, Windholz, Young
federal minimum plus social studies PLUS 9th grade testing
readact only once if test proficient,
kindergarten readiness test w/in first 90 days
paper pencil for k-3 reading test
paper pencil for state mandated tests if school asks (not up to parent)
alternative assessment for ELL(for up to 5 yrs)
alternative assessment for student w disabilities
repeals post secondary/workforce readiness assessments
The sponsors of the bills met, sponsors were changed, bills were changed, making them identical, all very last minute. As this article states, "The need to produce a testing bill and to avoid the political embarrassment of not passing one proved too compelling as the session drew to a close." House Education rewrote Senate Bill 15-257 with the new language and passed it 9-2. Senate Education did the same with House Bill 15-1323 and passed the new version 5-4. Read more Here. However, SB257 was killed on the House floor, while HB1323 survived and was sent to Governor.
See this Chalkbeat chart for details for proposed testing changes, projected seat time for testing by grade. See this article for more details on what Colorado can expect in terms of testing next year.
In a nutshell, if HB 1323 is signed by our Governor:
Districts may choose to use state mandated test scores for teacher evaluations for the 2014-15 school year, it is not mandatory.
Districts can choose their own graduation requirements, which may include PARCC scores
The accreditation rating assigned to the school district or the institute for the preceding school year will be determined by Colo Dept of Ed and is partially based on the level of participation on the statewide assessments by students enrolled in the schools of the school district or in the institute.
High school students will now have PARCC /CMAS scores on their final transcript
Schools can decide if they will administer the state mandated tests via paper pencil or online.
Students will be held harmless (no bullying) if they opt out of state assessments. However, a school's accreditation will be rated on participation rates, unless our state board steps in and extends their hold harmless for all resolution.
Early childhood (CAP4K) (TSGOLD) still mandated in Kindergarten but literacy aspect can be tested with READAct-to avoid double testing)
READ Act grades K-3 children who prove proficient will be only tested once, those who don't test proficient will be tested continually throughout school year
PARCC ELA and MATH will be grades 3-9-Federal mandate
CMAS science unchanged grades 5 and 8 -Federal mandate
CMAS Social studies will be sampling across grades 4 and 7- State mandate
10th grade is state mandated ACT aspire-college prep
11th grade is state mandated ACT
Video:
Senators Marble and Laura Woods ask Senate to listen to parents, reduce testing
Senator Michael Merrifield
Senator Nancy Todd
Senator Tim Neville
Rep Justin Everett
Rep Paul Lundeen
PARCC NOTE : At a May 5, 2015 special state board meeting to hear the effect of PARCC on students and teachers, PARCC representative Dr. Derek Briggs commented that we need a quality test, one that is worthy of being taught to and building a curriculum for. He also stated that PARCC should not have been implemented so quickly. It should have had 3-5 years of pilot implementation, with teacher feedback to make necessary changes before using PARCC scores for teacher and student evaluation. Listen here.
The year started off with MANY bills related to Common Core, PARCC / testing and data mining. But even before the bills rolled out-- listen to Gov. Hickenlooper, April 10, 2014 Mike Rosen show with a parent caller, discussing Common Core, Parcc and testing on Mike Rosen radio show last year. Listen to the whole 4 minutes and count how many times Hickenlooper offers to "opt out" of common core testing (parcc) and how he will help slow it all down, listen to parents.
Hickenlooper: "We can opt out of all kinds of things in common core."
Hickenlooper: "We can opt out of anything."
THE BILLS
SB223 Opt out bill To hold all parties harmless when a parent exercised existing right to opt their child out of sate mandated test and required schools to provide protocol on how they handle parent opt outs. Had huge bipartisan support, passing senate ed committee, on an 8-1 vote with Senator Mike Johnston as the only opposing vote. Johnston and paid lobbyists argued that Colorado would lose $360 million of Federal Funds, would encourage opt outs, Colorado would not be able to measure children and compare data if this bill were to pass. However, several others pointed out during testimony that Johnston and the lobbyists were mistaken. (No school or district anywhere in the country has ever been penalized for failing to test enough (95%) of its students. Additionally, seven states have existing policy/law allowing opt out and they have not lost funding, nor did their opt out rates increase. As members of the 1202 assessment task force point out during this December 2014 meeting, there is no need to test every student, every year; to think that student scores will be that different from 9th grade to 10th grade is a fallacy. There are many formative tests available, with immediate results that can be compared across the state and the nation.) The bill went onto House Ed Committee where it was defeated on a 6-5 vote to kill the bill, under many of the same mistaken points made by Senator Johnston.
Before the bill was killed, proponent Dominick Moreno said, "We need to support kids, honor rights of parents, protect teachers." He introduced an amendment protecting kids who are excused /opted-out from tests --asking schools to allow these excused children to be at school during testing window. Amendment passed, but Garnett, Fields, Wilson voted no.
Biggest opponents of the bill lobbyists Stand for Children, Colorado Children's Campaign, Colorado Succeeds, Senator Mike Johnston, Rep.Kevin Priola, Rep. Jim Wilson, Rep. Millie Hamner, Rep Alec Garnett
Rep Kevin Priola introduced a PENALIZING Amendment asking for districts to lose PPR $ for any student who opt out, because as he notes, there is currently no penalty to parents who opt their children out, perhaps they need incentive. This Priola amendment for penalty, ON A BILL THAT ASKS TO HOLD ALL HARMLESS, failed 10 to 1.
Rep Jim Wilson, "This is the most bizzarre bill this session. It's wrong if kids are bullied for opting out, but I am still voting no."
Rep Hamner, "I have been a no from the beginning. We can't let parents off the hook"
====================================================
SB15-173, Student data privacy bill (This was the third student data privacy transparency bill this session. Other two got killed by House Ed Committee here and here). After much negotiation, SB15-173 was crafted with input from industry, parent, and education stakeholders. SB15-173 aligned with the national SIIA industry privacy pledge set forth by Congressman Jared Polis which over 137 vendors have signed, agreeing to not sell children's data, not use the data for targeted advertising and to be transparent about the collection and use of data. SB173 also followed guidance from the U.S. Department of Education best practices for achieving transparency with data. This bipartisan (Chris Holbert, Dan Pabon) bill flawlessly passed the Senate after hours of testimony supporting the bill, in a unanimous vote was drastically changed by an amendment (L026 written for online industry) introduced by the bill's co-sponsor Representative Dan Pabon (D) in the Colorado House Education committee. Rep Dan Pabon, worked with Microsoft, Google, K12 inc, Facebook to create an amendment that was added to the bill by a 9-3 vote in the House Education Committee. This amendment removed nearly all aspects of transparency and gave more data mining rights to the industry. This bill would have been dangerous for Colorado kids. The senate took the bill back, prime sponsor Chris Holbert asked to adhere to original version of bill and it passed narrowly out of senate. "I believe there is not a reason to call a conference committee because the bill has just gone in two different directions," Senator Chris Holbert said. Senator Holbert also said, "It’s better for the bill to die than to make parent groups mad by passing the House version or to antagonize the technology industry by passing the Senate version."
The bill went back to the House. Rather than allow schools and parents the transpsarency of what data is collected, who it is shared with, and to prohibit the sale of student data, the House chose to kill the original bill. This is not an isolated event. This article discusses the corporate take over of this bill in CO. Nearly identical amendments have appeared in other states who have introduced privacy bills this session. Almost exact wording appears in privacy amendments for Oregon and Maryland, CO, WA, GA, AZ and they all bear striking resemblance to this model legislation from Jeb Bush's ExcelinEd. Google was flown out to testify against the Colorado bill; see the Google rep's testimony below. It is startling to hear him avoid answering questions like: Does Google read student emails? Do you data mine?) Biggest supporters: Holbert, Lundeen, Everett, Garnett, Woods*, Marble, Kefalas, Steadman, Neville.
(*Senator Laura Woods carried crucial amendment for parents to add transparency piece to original bill. )
Biggest Opposition Dan Pabon, lobbyists for online industry, K12inc online schools, Microsoft, Google, Facebook.
Worth noting that multiple school districts, ACLU, CASB, CDE, Electronic Frontier Foundation, privacy experts, even federal legislators are supportive of the original SB173 version that passed the senate unanimously.
Read support for transparency and Senate Version of SB173 -and why we need to try again next year.
Letter from National EFF opposing Pabon amendment
Letter from JeffCo School District I.T Dept/ CIO opposing Pabon amendment
Congressman Polis incorporated Colo transparency in his Federal bill for Student transparency and privacy
VIDEOS of Google rep, Ron Barnes, testifying against student data privacy SB173 in Colo House Ed April 15, 2015 Google testimony here:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkb-ClIiIis&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmcP3r1c35A&feature=em-upload_owner
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMtj4Mhjbfk&feature=youtu.be
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC6aS0zaYN0
5. Audio of Rep Pabon offering to remove transparency while Rep Garnett demands protection of kids
====================================================
TESTING BILLS
There were at least 13 testing bills introduced. Most were not heard until very late in the session. This article has a great table of testing bills introduced this session, along with a description of what the bill did. Many bills claimed to address the consensus of the legislative HB14-1202 Standards and Assessments Task Force. However, if you followed the task force at all, you would know that there was no consensus. Days before the final report was presented, there were several who outwardly expressed concern over the "drift" in the report. Be sure to listen to the audio of this last January 23 meeting. To see actual votes (The task force majority voted against state mandated testing in grades 9, 11, 12.) read more here.
In the end, there were two big bills remaining: SB257 and HB1323. Below is a brief overview of original version of each bill. Then go on to see how the bills were changed to mirror each other on the final 3 days of the legislature. Both of these bills were quickly and quietly amended, but only one passed and was sent to the Governor: amended HB1323
Original SB257 Senators Hill and Merrifield, Holbert, Marble, Neville T., Todd, Merrifield, Woods Representatives Becker J. and Singer
goes down to federal minimum of testing
allows paper pencil for state mandated tests if PARENT asks
does read act tests only once if test proficient, instead of multiple times per year
schools can choose from a battery of local assessments in lieu of state assessment
districts can apply for pilot waivers (like NH waiver pilot)
No SB191 accountability tied to parcc 2014/2015, plus additional 3 years hold harmless option
alternative assessment for Eng Language learners (for up to 3 yrs)
alternative assessment for student w disabilities
repeals post secondary/workforce readiness assessments
**will move accountability towards formative tests, authentic assessments that are more locally based**
Original HB1323 Buckner and Wilson, Duran, Fields, Garnett, Hamner, Lee, Moreno, Pettersen, Priola, Windholz, Young
federal minimum plus social studies PLUS 9th grade testing
readact only once if test proficient,
kindergarten readiness test w/in first 90 days
paper pencil for k-3 reading test
paper pencil for state mandated tests if school asks (not up to parent)
alternative assessment for ELL(for up to 5 yrs)
alternative assessment for student w disabilities
repeals post secondary/workforce readiness assessments
The sponsors of the bills met, sponsors were changed, bills were changed, making them identical, all very last minute. As this article states, "The need to produce a testing bill and to avoid the political embarrassment of not passing one proved too compelling as the session drew to a close." House Education rewrote Senate Bill 15-257 with the new language and passed it 9-2. Senate Education did the same with House Bill 15-1323 and passed the new version 5-4. Read more Here. However, SB257 was killed on the House floor, while HB1323 survived and was sent to Governor.
See this Chalkbeat chart for details for proposed testing changes, projected seat time for testing by grade. See this article for more details on what Colorado can expect in terms of testing next year.
In a nutshell, if HB 1323 is signed by our Governor:
Districts may choose to use state mandated test scores for teacher evaluations for the 2014-15 school year, it is not mandatory.
Districts can choose their own graduation requirements, which may include PARCC scores
The accreditation rating assigned to the school district or the institute for the preceding school year will be determined by Colo Dept of Ed and is partially based on the level of participation on the statewide assessments by students enrolled in the schools of the school district or in the institute.
High school students will now have PARCC /CMAS scores on their final transcript
Schools can decide if they will administer the state mandated tests via paper pencil or online.
Students will be held harmless (no bullying) if they opt out of state assessments. However, a school's accreditation will be rated on participation rates, unless our state board steps in and extends their hold harmless for all resolution.
Early childhood (CAP4K) (TSGOLD) still mandated in Kindergarten but literacy aspect can be tested with READAct-to avoid double testing)
READ Act grades K-3 children who prove proficient will be only tested once, those who don't test proficient will be tested continually throughout school year
PARCC ELA and MATH will be grades 3-9-Federal mandate
CMAS science unchanged grades 5 and 8 -Federal mandate
CMAS Social studies will be sampling across grades 4 and 7- State mandate
10th grade is state mandated ACT aspire-college prep
11th grade is state mandated ACT