Education Reporters Cover Questions Around Assessments, Accountability Amid COVID-19
October 24, 2020
As conversations around the 2020-21 assessment period and the direction of accountability systems more generally become an increasingly fraught topic by district and state school leaders, EWA posted an overview of the topic geared toward education reporters. Specifically, the piece highlights ongoing back-and-forths between a handful of state education leaders and the federal department of education, which only recently told state leaders they should not expect waivers for annual testing requirements. Looking ahead, both education officials and reporters are gingerly awaiting the results of the upcoming presidential election, which could have significant implications for testing and accountability. When pushed on the matter, Biden Policy Director Stef Feldman declined to commit the campaign to a position on annual, summative assessments, saying “In some ways, the answer to this question depends on how much progress we can make in supporting our schools and getting them up and running.”