Louisiana First State to Win Approval for “Innovative Assessment” Pilot
July 27, 2018
According to Alyson Klein at Education Week, Louisiana is the first state to get approval from the U.S. Department of Education to participate in ESSA’s “Innovative Assessment” pilot, which “allows up to seven states to try out new kinds of tests in a handful of districts before taking them statewide.” Louisiana “is seeking to combine tests for two related subjects: English and social studies.” These tests “will include passages from books students have actually been exposed to in class, rather than brand-new material,” and students “will be asked to complete a series of brief reading and writing exams throughout the school year, to help their teachers get ‘real time’ updates on progress.” The pilot program will initially run in five districts.