A reader sent this notice from Washington State:
ASSESSMENTS
As of March 13, state assessments are canceled statewide for the remainder of the 2020 school year. These include: Smarter Balanced Assessments (English Language Arts and Math) for grades 3–8 and 10; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) English Language Arts and Math for grades 3–8 and 10; English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA21); Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; WIDA Alternate ACCESS for English learners; and WaKIDS for Transitional Kindergarten.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great start!
Now, let’s cancel them, in Robert Burns’s words, Till a’ the seas gang dry.”
Outstanding. Now that’s what I call a smarter balanced approach. Here’s a link to the official bulletin: https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/bulletinsmemos/bulletins2020/B019-20.pdf
Good grief. I think they need to add more tests. /s
Certainly the brainy politicians are missing another opportunity if they don’t add at least 25 more tests to make up for the lost tests.
perhaps that is going to be the testing companies reaction: no state tests in spring 2020, surely we’ll need to add a notable number of tests to fall 2020
The Fordham Institute for Securing Big Paychecks for Officers of the Fordham Institute has lost no time attempting to capitalize on the Coronavirus pandemic. Today they ran in their Gadfly Droppings newsletter a piece by Mike Petrilli about how school closings give the makers of depersonalized education software their chance to shine.
More like another chance to fail, as they do over and over and over again.
But some meretricious servants of the oligarchical class, like those at Fordham, never learn, which is a funny thing, come to think of it, in people who style themselves as education “thought leaders.”
Fordham, the Think Tank Where Thinking Tanks
Oh, and ofc, the Petrilli piece also does the standard Deformy cheerleading for the Common Coring of America.
If you can hold your nose long enough to read this, here it is: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/coronavirus-bearing-down-schools-educational-content-providers-have-chance
Mr. Petrilli once again shows how far removed he is from the reality of many low-income families struggling just to get by. Internet? Lots of people don’t even have it at home, let alone computers and decent Internet service. Are parents just expected to stay home from their jobs? A lot of parents where I work are likely to get fired if they do that. What if they have to work at home? Who will supervise the lessons? Grandparents? Caregivers? Do they have computers/Internet? What if they don’t drive or have other health problems? Should the elderly now be spending a lot of time with the littles given the health risk? Is the childcare/afterschool provider now going to show up at the family’s house to deliver the elearning magic? He’s in a fantasyland if he believes all that adult support will simply arrive at the door, ready, willing, and able, along with necessary tech infrastructure. Disaster capitalism at its worst; it didn’t take long for the ed reformers to champion this amazing (!) online garbage as part of their grand $$$ experiment.
Meanwhile the College Board is still pressing for AP tests as scheduled and is suggesting the late tests, which are only a few days after the regular tests, as the “solution” to schools closing.
Not surprising from the scam artist who gave us the Common [as in base, mediocre] Coring of U.S. education
That’s hilarious. Oh, take the late tests. LMAO.
Oh, these College Board folks. What a bunch of very stable geniuses, huh?
More districts are doing co-enrollment with local college, for good reason. The college credits are on a transcript, not subject to whether a college will acknowledge a score of 3. Students’ performance is assessed over semesters rather than a one-shot test day.
Excellent point, booklady!
I hope they do the same in New York State
How to pressure CA to follow suit!
Yahoooo! Let’s get this done!
Please email CA State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond:
TThurmond@cde.ca.gov