Testing Resistance & Reform News: July 29 – August 5, 2020

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National Why Teachers Should Not Give Students Standardized Tests When Schools Reopen
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/03/why-teachers-shouldnt-give-kids-standardized-tests-when-school-starts/

Arizona Pause Standardized Testing So Educators Can Focus on Teaching
https://www.azmirror.com/2020/07/29/schools-need-to-be-allowed-to-be-creative-flexible-to-save-this-school-year/

Florida 4th Grader “Destroys” State Test Before Local School Board
https://www.opposingviews.com/society/4th-grader-destroys-floridas-new-standardized-test-in-front-of-school-board

Indiana Educators Press for Standardized Exam Suspension
https://wsbt.com/news/operation-education/operation-education-standardized-testing-in-an-unusual-school-year

Massachusetts State Testing System Reinforces School Segregation and Undermines Diversity
https://cecr.ed.psu.edu/sites/default/files/Demography_Report_FINAL_7.24.20.pdf

Michigan Legislators Call for Lifting State Testing Requirement for 2020-2021 School Year
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/michigan-democrats-suggest-skipping-state-standardized-testing-next-school-year-over-coronavirus-concerns/ar-BB17hOR2

Tennessee County Mayors Seek Pause in Standardized Testing
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/education/2020/08/03/shelby-county-mayors-ask-tennessee-standardized-testing-pause-amid-covid-19/5575754002/

Texas Put State Standardized Exams on Hold When Students Return to Classes
https://dentonrc.com/opinion/columnists/ana-maria-ramos-and-rhetta-bowers-texas-should-put-staar-on-hold-this-school-year/article_120d229a-735a-51cd-a7ea-757c5a843737.html
Texas Replace High-Stakes Testing with Diagnostic Assessments
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Opinion-I-co-wrote-the-law-that-morphed-into-15441055.php

Virginia Legislature Seeks Alternatives to Biased Tests for Prestigious Magnet School Admission
https://forthuntherald.com/surovell-general-assembly-to-explore-more-equitable-admissions-policies-for-virginias-magnet-schools/

Wisconsin School Board Resolution Seeks Continued Testing Waiver
https://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/covid-19/beloit-school-board-president-demands-testing-be-waived-employees-receive-hazard-pay/article_61f859e4-38b4-5270-a17e-2aff80cf0863.html

University Admissions Parents Question College Board’s Misuse of Student Data
https://www.studentprivacymatters.org/parents-question-college-boards-use-of-student-data/

Worth Reading The Real Test We Need: An Interview with Jose Luis Vilson
https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2020/07/29/the-real-test-we-need-for-our-pandemics-of-covid-19-and-racial-injustice-assessing-standardized-tests-teacher-diversity-and-antiracist-education-with-jos-luis-vilson/#7781b7f4631e
Worth Reading The Pandemic and Federal Education Policy: From the Race to the Top to the Plunge to the Bottom
https://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/pandemic-and-federal

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

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