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Education Dive
Ed Dept official: Don't expect testing waivers this year
Shawna De La Rosa
July 27, 2020
Dive Brief:
Jim Blew, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education,
recently suggested states should not expect standardized testing
waivers for the 2020-21 school year, Chalkbeat reports. Waivers from
state testing requirements were previously offered during the spring
due to coronavirus-related school closures.
Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association,
argues, however, that standardized testing in the upcoming school year
will pull teachers away from providing for students' social-emotional
needs, which have been emphasized during the closures. The sentiment is
echoed by education leaders in other states who say the tests would
take time and money from helping students heal and catch up on learning.
Those who support reinstating standardized testing this year say
assessments are critical to understand expanded inequities and where
students stand after remote learning, arguing the data can inform
policy decisions, guide teachers in their instruction, and help parents
understand their children's performance.
Dive Insight:
Prior to Blew's remarks, some states had already started seeking
assessment waivers for the upcoming school year. On June 18, Georgia
Gov. Brian Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced
they would seek a standardized testing waiver, saying high-stakes
testing would be “counterproductive.” South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma
and Michigan are among states that made similar pushes.
Recent recommendations by the NWEA, a nonprofit assessment provider,
include suggestions to use two years of assessment data to measure
student growth rather than a single year and to rethink how assessments
are used and implemented overall. The association also suggested the
U.S. Department of Education should change tests to reflect the new
role of distance and hybrid learning, and provide targeted
flexibilities in accountability for states rather than blanket testing
waivers.
When schools closed last spring, 90% of superintendents said they
wanted flexibility on assessments, according to a survey by AASA, The
School Superintendents Association. Superintendents surveyed also
sought flexibility on accountability, reporting requirements,
maintenance of effort and chronic absenteeism.
Near the end of April, at least seven states waived their requirements
for teacher evaluations; a minimum of six states waived other
requirements, such as the use of student growth data in evaluations;
and at least eight states issued flexibility or guidance for school
districts. By the end of the school year, the U.S. Department of
Education had excused all states and the District of Columbia from
testing requirements.
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