Assessment & Survey Opt Out

  • Parents or guardians of CPS students may choose to keep their student from participating in some required district assessments. However, the decision to opt out any student from district assessments must conform to the Board policy as outlined below.

    In order to achieve the purposes of the student assessment program and comply with state and federal law, the district requires all enrolled students to participate in all applicable aspects of the district assessment program, including statewide assessments.

    All district assessments are listed on the District Assessment Calendar, located on the CPS website or available from your student’s school. 

    The following assessments are not eligible for opt-out: 

    • The Missouri and U.S. Constitution exams
    • The English Language proficiency test for students identified as an English learner
    • MAP, including all Grade Level Assessments (grades 3-8) and End of Course Exams (Algebra 1, Government, English 2, and Biology. Algebra 2 is also required for students who took Algebra 1 in middle school)
    • AIMSWeb Reading and Math, including Early Literacy and Early Numeracy
    • i-Ready Reading and Math (including growth checks)
      • i-Ready Reading is now required by state law for any scholar in K-5th grade
    • The student must take at least one of the following prior to graduation, so they are also not eligible for opt-out:
      • ACT
      • Accuplacer
      • SAT
      • ACT WorkKeys
      • ASVAB

    Parents of students on a 504 Accommodation Plan or IEP should contact their 504 or IEP team if they believe any assessment is inappropriate due to their student's disability.

    If there are extenuating circumstances for which the parent believes their student should be exempt from one of the above assessments, parents may appeal to the district administration according to . All appeals must be submitted in writing to Dr. David Wilson, Executive Director of Assessment, Intervention, Data, and Innovation.

    An email requesting an opt-out is not sufficient. Please complete the form if you wish to request an opt-out.