Following the lead of the federal government, which approved all requests for 2020 waivers from tests required under the Every Student Succeeds Act, many states have suspended their own mandates for exams (mis-)used for graduation, grade promotion, teacher evaluation and the like. If your state has not already done so, make sure that ALL testing requirements for 2020 are cancelled by contacting your governor, board of education and legislators. Now is also the time for parents, educators, and community allies to press policymakers to use this crisis to rethink “accountability” by replacing high-stakes exams with performance-based assessments.
National Amid Pandemic, Many States Change Graduation Requirements
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/04/08/amid-coronavirus-shutdown-…
https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/data-how-is-coronavirus-cha…
National Long-Term Impacts of 2020 Testing Suspensions on “Accountability” Systems
https://www.nciea.org/blog/essa/outlook-essa-school-accountability-after…
Colorado Districts Suspend Test-Based Teacher Evaluations
https://www.timescall.com/2020/04/13/svvsd-bvsd-pause-teacher-evaluation…
Florida Schools Should Now Be About Student Support, Not Testing
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2020/04/08/school-during-coron…
Georgia Coronavirus Prompts School Officials to Drop 18 Tests Required by State Law
https://www.msgr.com/article/coronavirus-prompts-georgia-school-official…
Kentucky State Suspends Civics Exams and Other Testing Barriers to Graduation
https://www.wtvq.com/2020/04/07/waivers-remove-roadblocks-graduation
Massachusetts New Law Scraps School Tests, Modifies Graduation Requirement
https://www.wgbh.org/news/education/2020/04/11/massachusetts-scraps-scho…
Massachusetts What Does Cancelling 2020 Tests Mean for Next Year?
https://www.baystateparent.com/news/20200413/state-waives-mcas-testing-w…
New Jersey Governor’s Executive Order Suspends Exit Exam Mandate, Testing for Teacher Evaluation
https://www.njspotlight.com/2020/04/murphy-waives-all-state-testing-for-…
New York Students Will Not Have to Make Up Cancelled State Regents Exams
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2020/04/07/new-york-students-…
North Carolina State Ed Board Seeks Suspension of All Laws Requiring Test Score Data
https://www.wfae.org/post/now-set-aside-nc-test-score-laws-later-revamp-…
Tennessee Standardized Exam Scores Eliminated from State Graduation Requirements
https://www.cheathamcountyexchange.com/news/state-changes-high-school-gr…
Washington Board of Ed Adopts New Rules to Make Sure Seniors Graduate
https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/washington-state-s…
University Admissions Dozens of Colleges, Universities Drop ACT/SAT Requirements
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/04/10/sat-act-2021-coronav…
University Admissions The Future of the SAT
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/guest-post-future-sat
Worth Reading Coronavirus Closures Will Force Us to Reexamine Test-Driven School “Accountability”
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/24035/
Worth Reading What Schools Should Do Post-Coronavirus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/04/08/proposal-what-post-c…
Worth Reading Federal Policies Push Schools Toward Creating Better Test-Takers, Not Better People
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2020/04/011.html
Bob Schaeffer, interim Executive Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
office- (239) 395-6773 mobile- (239) 699-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org