For those of us struggling to cope with the unprecedented challenges of the current school year, annual testing probably isn’t top of mind. But it should be, particularly for state policy makers, who need to act now to ensure that schools and districts will be ready to collect critical information about students’ academic progress and their access to learning opportunities.
Some testing critics argue that we should simply toss aside state summative tests this year (as we did last year, when COVID-19 brought in-person schooling to a halt). However, that would be a harmful mistake. Those tests shine much-needed light on the performance of our schools and the children who attend them. During the present crisis, we need to know how our students are doing — especially those who are most at risk of falling behind, such as students with disabilities and those from historically marginalized groups.
However, it would also be a mistake to press ahead with accountability as usual, as if this were an ordinary school year.
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