DENVER -- A bright fourth-grader at McKinley-Thatcher Elementary is protesting what he calls a flawed exam by refusing to take the state's standardized test.

Anthony Cummings, 10, said the Colorado Student Assessment Program, or CSAP, has many problems and should be eliminated altogether. With permission from his parents and to the dismay of his principal, he sat and read a book about individual rights under the U.S. Constitution while all of his classmates took the exam last week.

Although the gifted and talented student could easily pass the test, he said he has a problem with how the tests are being administered, how it's being taught at school, and how the schools are unfairly judged by its results.

Cummings said it takes too long to get exam results -- it should be a month instead of a year -- and he wants the School Accountability Reports to show exactly how many students have learning disabilities and how many students are learning English as a second language so that the report could paint a more accurate picture of student learning.

He also said it's unfair when the zeros of those who don't take the exam are factored in the school's overall grade. Schools that receive a failing grade for four years in a row face the threat of sanctions that allow school boards to replace the failing schools with charter schools.

Critics of the exam say the tests just show that the schools with a majority of poor children don't perform as well as the schools attended by middle class or wealthy children. They also say teachers in underperforming schools are pressured to teach to the test instead of teaching skills and critical thinking.

Cummings said he knows he's David fighting Goliath, but he's hoping his small protest could lead to some change and stir other students to action. Next week, he will meet with state Sen. Ken Gordon, a member of the education committee, to talk about how he would like the tests changed.

His parents, a theater teacher and a university political science teacher, are supporting him every step of the way.

Additional Resources:

Find Out Your School's Accountability Report
List Of Unsatisfactory Schools