A small but growing number of parents nationwide are trying to ensure their children do not participate in state standardized testing, citing a myriad of reasons including the stress they believe it brings on young students and a discomfort with the tests being used to gauge teacher performance. Some have referred to it as an act of "civil disobedience" that is beginning to gain momentum.

For many students, there have been few to no consequences when their parents have opted them out of testing. Most parents are choosing to take their younger children out of testing, rather than doing so with older students for whom the exams are often a graduation requirement.

Another worry that parents say has prompted them to opt their children out of standardized tests is that test prep is narrowing curricula down to the minimum needed to pass an exam.

It is unclear whether things will change when the Common Core Curriculum – a state-led effort to set up a uniform set of educational standards for math, English and language arts – are implemented in the 2014-15 academic year. The curriculum also applies to the standardized tests students take based on what they learn. The standards have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Common Core's website.

Many teachers have also voiced opposition to standardized testing because they limit children's potential.



"I'm opposed to these tests because they narrow what education is supposed to be about and they lower kids' horizons," said Jesse Hagopian, a teacher at a Seattle high school. "I think collaboration, imagination, critical thinking skills are all left off these tests and can't be assessed by circling in A, B, C or D."

MORE: The Common Core divide

