Social media has become a mobilizing force in bringing together students, educators, and parents who are frustrated with the data-driven, standardized, one-size-fits all learning taking place in publicly funded schools today. Many of these groups have popped up with members joining and uniting against a system designed to reduce children to nothing more than standardized, easily measurable data to appear on a future chart that can bolster the ratings and egos of policy makers and business leaders. Despite the fact that many educational leaders, educators, parents, and students know this is wrong parents like Gretchen Herrera are being forced to engage in practices that hurt children with threats of school closures and students being left behind or kicked out for failure to comply.
One of the biggest movements gaining momentum is the opt out of state testing with social media sites being created in the form Facebook groups, Facebook pages, and Yahoo groups which are connecting parents, educators, and students who are frustrated with forced government schooling policies. In the past there was little information available to the public when it came to opting out of tests. Not surprisingly this information was hard to access and inconsistent. This is, in part what the government agencies are banking on.
Fortunately with the advent of social media and Web 2.0 tools, concerned individuals are able to unite to find, share, and collect information. One such effort to collect this information is The Opt Out of State Standardized Tests – Site. Upon joining, group members can contribute relevant information from their state. The beauty of this site is that the information is created and owned by anyone concerned about this issue. The site is open to all concerned individuals who can find general and state by state information as well as a number of social media groups and pages to join.
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