The National Superintendents Roundtable reports that Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina want to suspend testing next year. Other states may follow their lead. The most important priority must be the health and safety of students and staff.
On June 18, Georgia became one of the first states to seek an assessment waiver. Gov. Brian P. Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods jointly announced their decision to apply for suspension of standardized testing to the U.S. Department of Education.
Continuing with high-stakes testing for the next school year, they said in a joint press release, would be “counterproductive.”
“In anticipation of a return to in-person instruction this fall, we believe schools’ focus should be on remediation, growth, and the safety of students,” the statement said. “Every dollar spent on high-stakes testing would be a dollar taken away from the classroom.”
In South Carolina, the state Senate approved a bill that would seek a waiver from all federal accountability reporting, as well as test suspension, “to help recoup extensive instruction time lost when our public schools closed” in spring.
Texas also moved in a similar direction earlier this month, when state Rep. Dan Flynn announced a resolution seeking a waiver from Gov. Greg Abbott for state accountability ratings, adding that extended closures have historically negatively impacted students’ math and reading achievement.
A growing number of educators realize the uselessness of annual standardized testing.
A group of superintendents from metro Detroit and surrounding counties is urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Superintendent Michael Rice to seek the OK to suspend state-mandated academic testing during the upcoming school year.
“Every educator’s first and foremost priority will be to work with students individually, assess their needs, and help them readjust to in-person learning,” the district leaders wrote.
The letter was signed by the superintendents of intermediate school districts in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Genesee, Monroe, Washtenaw, and St. Clair counties. Intermediate school districts provide a range of services to local districts and charter schools within their boundaries.
The letter asks the state to seek the OK from the U.S. Department of Education to suspend testing. Federal guidelines require annual assessments.
The request comes as districts across the state are working to develop plans to reopen school buildings in the fall, and make accommodations for students who opt to continue learning online. Whitmer next week is expected to release guidelines for the safe reopening of schools.
A group of superintendents from metro Detroit and surrounding counties is urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Superintendent Michael Rice to seek the OK to suspend state-mandated academic testing during the upcoming school year.
“Every educator’s first and foremost priority will be to work with students individually, assess their needs, and help them readjust to in-person learning,” the district leaders wrote.
The letter was signed by the superintendents of intermediate school districts in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Genesee, Monroe, Washtenaw, and St. Clair counties. Intermediate school districts provide a range of services to local districts and charter schools within their boundaries.
The letter asks the state to seek the OK from the U.S. Department of Education to suspend testing. Federal guidelines require annual assessments.
To think that it required a global pandemic to stop the nation’s obsession with standardized testing.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Sorry to say but Texas Education Agency has announced that the STAAR test will be given next year, even if off site instruction occurs
What a stupid decision.
Texas has always been in love with testing and numbers, even when the tests were useless and cost $500 million a year (Pearson).
in other words, taking the STANDARD out of standardized testing: the entire purpose is lost, but the state continues to pay heavily
A growing number of leaders in education have become disillusioned with high stakes testing. Nancy Bailey cautions us to be careful what we wish for. The big standardized tests may be endangered, but testing itself is not. According to Bailey,”It’s best not to dance on the grave of high-stakes standardized testing. The story isn’t over. What’s replacing standardized tests is frightening.” She is talking about continuous embedded online testing, data mining and loss of privacy.https://nancyebailey.com/2020/06/24/the-standardized-testing-horror-show-is-not-over/
Agreed, competency based programs like the ones imposed on us for distance learning are extremely dangerous. They privatize and narrow curricula, and erode data privacy and the quality of education. Competency based sites can be used to replace teachers and raise class sizes. They dangerously take the teachers out of the teaching. However, the school closings, school ratings, and school rankings based on standardized test scores have been the most damaging part of education in the 21st century. In many cases, every decision administrators make is based on superstitious beliefs about raising scores. Competency based education programs are a step backward, but getting rid of those meaningless, invalid, unreliable test scores would be a much more giant leap forward.
By the way, the following article, which was linked in a Peter Greene post, contains a list of competency based companies. I was horrified to see the websites like Schoology and Blackboard that I am currently being forced to use on the list. https://coleofduty.com/technology/2020/05/21/competency-based-education-spending-market-growth-forecast-demand-future-outlook-and-company-profiles-knewton-motivis-learning-pearson-schoology/
Teacher raises were the first thing on the budgetary chopping block in Tennessee. Granted that the covid has put everybody in hard financial condition, why not tests?
Yes, retired teacher what will replace the current tests is just more of the same, repackaged. Continuous benchmarking would at least in theory be something that could be done by sampling (I.e., not every kid on every cycle), but that seems unlikely. Also more humane than continuous benchmarking is adaptive testing. Reformers will like it because it preserves a focus on growth and some traditionalists may acquiesce to the move away from testing only grade-level standards. Still, it has problems.
I’m afraid that Tennessee will be one of the last states to seek a waiver. The state legislature is going to be called back into session ostensibly to try to strip people of the right to sue businesses over Covid. In our nonunion state teachers had no chance of success of suing districts over lack of protection anyway, so that’s not much of a thing. The leg will probably pass that, also, but probably won’t even bring themselves to ridding the capitol building if the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Any hope that the leg will actually take up seeking a USDOE waiver is sadly misplaced. Maybe in a few months. It sure would be nice if they’d do it now but they’re not nice like that here.
“The letter asks the state to seek the OK from the U.S. Department of Education to suspend testing. Federal guidelines require annual assessments.”
I support the suspension of testing because the federal government has not held up their end of the bargain with public schools or public school students. How do they benefit public school students? What do they offer in return for the testing they mandate?
We are now in the midst of the THIRD consecutive anti-public school and anti-public school student presidential administration. They haven’t done their part in decades. Why are public schools still taking direction from people who don’t support their schools or students and offer no measurable benefit TO public school students?
This isn’t a partnership. Our students get nothing out of the deal.
We should tell them we’ll administer the tests after they provide some financial support to cover the costs of the Covid crisis. Our students should get something out of the deal.
“The White House plans to ask Congress to earmark money in the next stimulus bill for scholarship programs for private and religious schools, which the administration is promoting as a way to help families affected by COVID-19 pay their children’s tuition this fall.
President Donald Trump will ask for a “one-time, emergency appropriation” for a new grant proposal, according to an outline of the plan obtained by McClatchy. The grants would be provided to states to distribute to nonprofit institutions that disburse scholarships to qualified students who want to attend non-public schools.”
Maybe the private schools the Trump Administration prefers can administer the tests to their students this year.
If the Trump Administration wants public school students to devote two weeks to providing test scores for the federal government then maybe the Trump Administration should do some work on behalf of public school students. It’ll be the first actual work they’ve performed for our students since we hired them and started paying them.
“Scott Stump
Jun 30
Today, our team launched the #RuralTechProject, a $600,000 challenge to advance rural technology education. Schools can propose #technology education programs that use competency-based #distance enabled learning”
The Trump Administration, apparently blissfully unaware that every public school in the country is scrambling to reopen with no assistance or support from the Trump Administration, announce a contest where public schools must put together elaborate proposals and enter a sweepstakes to win federal funding.
The cluelessness about the schools 90% of US students attend is just breathtaking. The whole country is having a massive anxiety attack over whether public schools will OPEN and these ridiculous out of touch employees have spent the last 6 months putting together a contest, with prizes.
They spent all of last week celebrating a court decision on vouchers. Public schools will open in 6 weeks after an unprecedented crisis and ed reformers are busy hatching gimmicky sweepstakes schemes and new voucher plans.
We can do better than this. We could hire people who actually perform some work on behalf of the schools 90% of students attend. That’s possible and we’re permitted to demand it in return for their paychecks.
Let’s defer standardized testing of students until, say, Ragnarök.
Is there a reason you would defer testing until a conflict of Norse gods ending I the total submersion of the world in water? That is not long enough to suit me.
Here’s an idea: why don’t we spend the billions we spend on invalid and educationally useless standardized testing (and on test prep materials, practice tests, test prep materials, test preppy curricula, computers to take tests on, databases for rest scores, n teacher time doing data chats, and other such nonsense) on testing students and teachers and administrators and staff for the virus that causes Covid-19.
Carl Sagan:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken…”
Ralph Nader:
“…All societies perpetuate lavish myths (bamboozles) that enable the few to rule over the many, repress critical thinking and camouflage the grim realities. Our country was, and remains, no exception.”
Is it simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, the evidence?
Evidence: Effective marketing/propaganda BEGINS where critical thinking ENDS.
Unless the lavish myths/bamboozles are brought to a head,
(whose interests are being served-who you are working for)
we will remain the same.
The Bamboozle Has Captured Us. It is like being caught in a mire which each year captures and swallows even more “experts.”
Yes, suspended standardized testing would remove a bit of anxiety from both students and teachers. Let teachers get creative again!! Home-choice students and in-person students could have equal access to info and online materials assessments via Canvas modules. Aren’t we supposed to increase knowledge and understanding first? I say, “NO” to state tests for another year.