Policy Developments Could Affect Spring Testing
By Alex Medler
Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and a bill introduced in the Colorado Legislature could affect state testing this spring and whether accreditation ratings are updated. It is too early to know how this will work out.
To cancel this spring’s state tests, Colorado would need to pass House Bill 1125, and CDE would have to submit a waiver, which the U.S. Department of Education would have to approve. If each of these steps happens, charter school authorizers will face a second year without state tests or updated accreditation ratings. The time to take all of these steps and consensus on the right direction for the state are both lacking, which could lead to administration of testing in the coming months.
The federal guidance and Colorado Bill prompted a response from the Colorado Commissioner of Education, Katy Anthes. A group of national and Colorado-based organizations released a joint statement in response to the federal guidance and in support of testing. Other Colorado groups support the bill, such as the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE). All these activities underscore the significance and the challenges of this issue. Note, CACSA does not take positions on legislation.
It is too early to say how all of this will unfold. Meanwhile, Commissioner Anthes encourages all schools and districts “to make a good faith effort to administer our CMAS assessments so the results provide students, parents, teachers, districts and the state with a picture of the pandemic’s impact on student learning.”
Meanwhile, Colorado’s charter school authorizers would be prudent to also have plans in place that allow them to conduct charter school oversight and renewal processes without data from this spring’s state tests or updated accreditation ratings.
Colorado House Bill 1125 would suspend testing and continue pause in accountability ratings
A bill has been introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives that would:
- Suspend state testing for this spring;
- Direct CDE to apply to the U.S. Department of Education for waivers to allow the cancellation of this year’s testing;
- Pause accreditation ratings for another year, not count the 20/21 or 21/22 school years among the five years in the state accountability system, and instruct the state to treat the 19/20 and 22/23 school years as consecutive;
- Prohibit the use of student growth data and any other student performance data to determine teachers’ or principals’ final evaluations.
House Bill 1125 was introduced in the Colorado Legislature on February 19. The full text of the introduced bill is available here. The bill is co-sponsored by 40 Representatives in the House (36 Democrats and 4 Republicans). In the 65-member House, the number of co-sponsors alone indicates that some version of the bill is likely to pass. Eight Senate co-sponsors have also signed on to the bill.
Notably, the bill includes a mandate that CDE prepare and submit a waiver to the feds to implement the bill even if the U.S. Department of Education does not invite such waivers. The federal guidance, described below, invites waivers for accountability and reporting, as well as for flexibility in testing. It does not invite waivers regarding the cancellation of testing this spring.
Feds decline to issue blanket waivers
The U.S. Department of Education issued guidance to states regarding waivers for testing and accountability on February 22, 2021. Full text of the guidance is available here. Unlike last year, the Department is not issuing blanket waivers. Instead, according to the guidance, the Biden Administration anticipates receiving waiver applications that they will evaluate based on state context. According to the guidance:
“The intent of these flexibilities… is to focus on assessments to provide information to parents, educators, and the public about student performance and to help target resources and supports. For that reason, we are not inviting blanket waivers of assessments. We also recognize that individual states may need additional assessment flexibility based on the specific circumstances across or within the state, and we will work with states to address their individual needs and conditions while ensuring the maximum available statewide data to inform the targeting of resources and supports.”
Accountability and School Identification: ED invites states to request a waiver for the 2020-2021 school year of federal accountability and school identification requirements.
Transparency and Public Reporting: ED will maintain all state and local report card requirements, including the requirements to disaggregate data by student subgroup (except for reporting related to accountability, such as school ratings).
Assessments. ED emphasizes the importance of flexibility in the administration of statewide assessments. A state should use that flexibility to consider:
- Administering a shortened version of statewide assessments;
- Offering remote administration, where feasible; and/or
- Extending the testing window to the greatest extent practicable, including multiple testing windows and/or extending the testing window into the summer or the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
While emphasizing flexibility in testing rather than cancellation, the statement does not explicitly preclude a state from asking for an additional one-year pause in testing. The guidance stated:
“It is urgent to understand the impact of COVID-19 on learning. We know, however, that some schools and school districts may face circumstances in which they are not able to safely administer statewide summative assessments this spring using their standard practices. Certainly, we do not believe that if there are places where students are unable to attend school safely in person because of the pandemic that they should be brought into school buildings for the sole purpose of taking a test.”
Response to the Federal Guidance: CDE
Commissioner Anthes released a statement on Tuesday that describes the legislation and the federal guidance. Anthes notes that Colorado has explored options like shortening the assessment and extending the testing window while pointing out that the federal guidance and Colorado legislation regarding accountability and reporting match input from various stakeholders and previous discussion in the state. The statement explains possible next steps as follows:
“It’s important for me to emphasize that testing should only occur when health and safety conditions allow. In addition, parents’ decisions to excuse their children from testing must be respected. This is consistent with messaging from the USDE stating that if there are communities where students are unable to attend school safely in person because of the pandemic, they do not expect students to be brought into school buildings solely to test.
While we understand the federal Department’s communication is not what you may have been hoping for, we encourage you to continue to prepare for CMAS testing this spring. I do understand and empathize with the challenges assessments pose this year. At the same time, I encourage you all to make a good faith effort to administer our CMAS assessments so the results provide students, parents, teachers, districts and the state with a picture of the pandemic’s impact on student learning.
CDE will continue to monitor the status of state legislation and explore the invitation to submit an accountability waiver from the federal Department of education.”
Response to Federal Guidance: Colorado and National Groups
Responses to the situation reflect differences that were also present in the discussion over state testing in Colorado’s Stakeholder Group.
The Education Trust released a joint statement in response to the federal guidance. The statement was signed by Colorado Succeeds and A+ Colorado, along with many national civil rights, social justice, disability rights, immigration policy, business, and education organizations. The statement encourages the feds to maintain aspects of testing and reporting. The signatories promised to track ED’s work closely to “ensure (states) are administering statewide assessments, as well as collecting and publicly reporting on multiple measures of the student experience for the 2020–21 school year.”
The statement also demanded that “The Department must not, as part of its promised state-by-state ‘flexibility,’ grant waivers to states that would allow them to substitute local assessments in place of statewide assessments or to only assess a subset of students.”
Meanwhile, local groups like the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) strongly support HB1125. CASE Executive Director, Bret Miles, explained in an email communication:
“CASE believes it is absolutely imperative that our schools are allowed to focus on instruction, not setting aside multiple days for an assessment that won’t yield results until the fall. Our districts already have data on our students, and we need to focus on the data we can take action on rather than summative data after the fact. CASE members are also very concerned about the mental health of our students and that after months of not being with their teachers and classmates, now as they get chances to be back in school, it is the wrong time to prioritize a stressful testing situation that can’t help adjust instruction this year.”