Statewide standardized testing began on Tuesday, and that means thousands of students opting out of the controversial tests. There's a new trend this year with opt-outs: More students are actually opting in.
Nearly every Capital Region school district saw declines in opt-out numbers.
"What's most important is teaching and learning," said NYSUT spokesman Carl Korn, "not testing, testing and more testing."
Korn, speaking for the state teachers union, says the union has always encouraged parents' option to opt out of new state standardized tests.
"We will always support that decision 100 percent," Korn added.
That's because in prior years, the state had tried to tie the test results to teacher evaluations — a move the teachers saw as unfair, and one they protested.
As a result, "The state paused," Korn said. "The state put a moratorium in place on the use of standardized tests for high-stakes decisions."
And so, at least for this year and the next, NYSUT's complaints have been answered — and though the union is still sponsoring billboard signs, there is not much immediate reason to protest.
That may be one reason why, this year, more and more students are taking the standardized tests.
"I think it is a positive sign," said North Colonie Central School Superintendent D. Joseph Corr.
Corr's district in North Colonie was one of many statewide that saw testing opt-out numbers stay flat or decline.
"It's a very slight trend downward this year," Corr said. "I don't think it's really significant; it's about the same. But it's not increasing."
More students testing, Corr believes, is a good thing.
"It's one piece of data, one snapshot at one moment in time, that can be very useful in helping us to program better for our students," he said.
Opt-out numbers are still rolling in from area districts. But a sample of 13 districts in the Capital Region showed 12 of them with more students opting-in to take the state standardized tests.