Almost half of Americans don't think kids should be able to opt out of standardized tests


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Fifty-one percent of Americans believe children take too many standardized tests — but that doesn't mean they believe that kids should be able to opt out of them.
A new Huffington Post/YouGov poll found that 43 percent of Americans believe K-12 students should not have the ability to opt out of standardized tests. Only a few states have rules that explicitly allow students to opt out of exams, Huffington Post notes — and even then, students could face suspension for passing that information along to others.
The poll's language asked respondents if children should be able to opt out of testing "as a form of protest," which may have skewed the results for parents who have other reasons for allowing their children to opt out of standardized tests. Forty-nine percent of respondents agreed that the current U.S. system of standardized testing "has done more harm than good" in the past 10 years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published