COVID-19 to Have a Multi-Year Impact on School Accountability Systems
April 7, 2020
According to Chris Domaleski at the Center for Assessment, the disruption to ESSA school accountability systems is likely to reach well beyond 2021. Given the fact that many “state ESSA accountability systems rely on a bundle of multi-year data,” returning to the status quo quickly will not likely happen. While there are data workarounds to be had, Domaleski warns that “these approaches will substantially change the meaning and interpretation” of accountability results. However, the challenges brought on by COVID-19 provide a rare opportunity to “invest in accountability innovations” in order to bring about some “much-needed improvement” in accountability systems that would not have happened otherwise.