Here in Florida, kids will take the state-based standards test (FCAT) for one last time -- Common Core supposedly next year, but we'll see... loads of pushback on CC here in FL (for political purposes, if nothing else).
DS8 is in 3rd grade (skipped 1st) and will take the standardized test. His teacher texted me that she is ready for him to "rock the test" -- I definitely have gotten the feeling all year since I put him back in school in October (he was homeschooled for 2nd grade) that his teacher plays up his smarts a great deal in class, and treats him like some sort of messiah who will lift up the entire school.
I haven't thought about opting out at all. He's already taken IQ tests, achievement tests, SCAT test (for Johns Hopkins CTY), and at some point he'll take the Explore test to see if he qualifies for DYS... what I stress instead at home is plain old smart test-taking strategies, being relaxed and confident and not buying into the hysteria around him. He is naturally laid-back, so the mania at school amuses him more than anything else.
For the standardized writing test in February (which 3rd graders don't take), they actually had the other kids line up in the halls cheering the fourth graders on!!! I was momentarily speechless when he told me, and had to settle for clamping my mouth shut and rolling my eyes.
He did say his teacher yelled at the class earlier this week after grading the sample math test, which only 3 kids passed -- one "by the skin of her teeth" (DS8 asked me what that meant!). DS8 missed one question on the sample test, and when it was sent home there was a sticker on it for parents to sign reminding them that a Level 1 on FCAT means your kid will be retained.
Cue the eye rolling...
