Feds Say States Can Skip High-Stakes Testing This Year
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/20/20
The U.S.
Department of Education
has issued notification
that states can choose to "bypass" standardized testing for
the 2019-2020 school year. Secretary Betsy DeVos said in the
announcement that the department would grant a waiver to any state
unable to assess its students "due to the ongoing national
emergency."
"Students
need to be focused on staying healthy and continuing to learn.
Teachers need to be able to focus on remote learning and other
adaptations. Neither students nor teachers need to be focused on
high-stakes tests during this difficult time," said DeVos in a
statement. "Students are simply too unlikely to be able to
perform their best in this environment."
She
noted that the actions would give states "turnkey flexibilities"
in helping to address the "immediate needs of their students and
educators without worrying about federal repercussions."
The
testing waiver comes with an additional element: States won't have to
worry about the reporting requirements related to state
accountability systems tied to the testing.
Under
the declaration, schools identified as requiring support and
improvement for the current academic year will maintain their same
status in the 2020-2021 school year.
The
full statement is available on
the Department of Education website,
as is a
template
showing how state education leaders may phrase the request for a
waiver.
Find more resources for schools during the COVID-19 crisis here.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.