The Way We Evaluate Student Progress Will Need to Change in Post-Pandemic World
May 7, 2020
An editorial in the Richmond Times-Dispatch outlines a problem educators nationwide are grappling with: how to most effectively measure student progress in a post-pandemic world. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, all 50 states have asked the U.S. Department of Education to waive standardized testing requirements established under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Now, educators are left wondering how to measure student progress, including how to compare students “with strong internet connections and stable home settings” with their “peers whose families might be in crisis.” To address this an a myriad of other concerns, “school districts and their leaders should start a deeper conversation now to evaluate individual student progress and needs.”