A piece by Education Next takes a deeper dive into the recent FutureEd study examining opposition to statewide standardized testing. This opposition has made for strange bedfellows as “teachers’ unions and their progressive allies” opposed to test-based consequences for schools and teachers find themselves on...
FutureEd just released a new report that examines the “bipartisan backlash against standardized testing in recent years” in the context of the current coronavirus pandemic. The report draws on a “new 50-state analysis of testing through 2019” to “examine the striking scale of the pushback...
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...
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) received federal approval last week “to waive statewide assessment and accountability requirements” under the Every Student Succeeds Act for the 2019-2020 school year. In light of the mandatory school closures due to COVID-19, “all districts and campuses will receive a...
The U.S. Department of Education granted permission to the Commonwealth of Virginia “to cancel federally mandated Standards of Learning tests for the 2019-2020 school year.” Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states are required “to administer annual assessments in reading and mathematics from third grade...
The Bureau of Indian Education recently published its Standards, Assessment and Accountability System Final rule under the Every Student Succeeds Act, according to the Cherokee Phoenix. The SAAS rule will “provide the BIE with the ability to operate under a unified assessment system intended to...
Tens of thousands of schools across the country have closed in response to the spread of coronavirus, throwing state assessments into disarray. After initially considering “targeted” waivers of federal testing requirements, the Department of Education “shifted to a broader approach that will let most states...
The Trump administration’s waiving of federally required testing normally required under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) does not apply to homeschooling families, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). While schools will not need to adhere to ESSA’s federal testing requirements in...
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic “can bypass standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year.” After receiving a “proper” request, the Department “will grant a waiver to any state that is unable to assess...
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump Administration “moved to waive federal requirements for standardized tests for students in kindergarten through 12th grade and gave borrowers with student loans the option of suspending payments.” Those with federal student loan debt can request a postponement...
