other

Pressed by grassroots activists and educators, states are pushing back against the Biden Administration's stubborn refusal to allow schools to suspend standardized exams this spring.  Several have already won waivers allowing them to cut back time devoted to testing and eliminate consequences for test results.  Many have lifted their own high-stakes assessment requirements. More advocacy is needed to force policy makers to recognize the reality of an ongoing pandemic -- test results will be neither fair, valid nor educationally helpful.

The U.S. Department of Education's initial refusal to grant broad waivers of federal standardized exam mandates this year has set the stage for a high-stakes political fight.

Angry parents, educators and many state policy makers are pushing back aggressively against the Biden Administration's refusal to grant comprehensive waivers from spring 2021 student testing mandates.  The decision by DC-insiders to double down on administering standardized exams as schools just begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed a broad, diverse opt-out movement and renewed calls for meaningful assessment reforms.

From coast to coast angry parents, educators, community leaders and policy makers are pushing back at the Biden Administration's refusal to issue blanket waivers suspending spring 2021 federal testing mandates during a pandemic.  Leaders in several states are continuing to advocate for their original test cancellation proposals. Elsewhere education officials are responding by eliminating their own state and local testing requirements. Simultaneously, activists are planning for massive test opt-out campaigns.  Assessment reformers should keep pressing for:

The backlash to the Biden Administration's refusal to grant states "blanket" waivers from spring 2021 federal testing requirements is sharp and growing rapidly.  Here's FairTest's agenda:

What a week!  A letter from the Biden Administration's Department of Education asserting that it will reject waivers seeking cancellation of all spring 2021 federally mandated testing, which 10 states had already requested, unleashed a storm of protest from parents, teachers and community leaders, as well as top local and state policy makers.  One measure of the overwhelmingly negative response: visits to FairTest's online guide

     The Biden Administration's decision to require the administration of federally mandated standardized exams this year contradicts the judgement of parents, educators, and community leaders.  At least 10 states had already prepared test waiver requests, both major teacher unions oppose the exams, and polls showed that a majority of parents wanted tests suspended. 

It's time to ratchet up pressure on federal and state officials to cancel K-12 standardized exams in spring 2021. Make sure that all your friends and allies have joined the 10,000+ parents, teachers and community leaders who have already signed the "National Call to Suspend High-Stakes Testing."  The petition will be delivered to Miguel Cardona, once he is confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Education:

Push comes to shove as more states mount pressure on the U.S. Department of Education to allow waivers of spring 2021 standardized exam requirements. Parents, teachers, education administrators, school board members and community leaders need to keep the heat on their elected representatives to suspend both federal and state mandated tests for at least another year.  No test score is worth risking a single human life in the midst of a pandemic.

National U.S. Ed. Sec. Nominee Wavers on School Testing Waivers

More than 1,000 individuals attended last week's, FairTest-sponsored "Town Hall on How and Why to Suspending High-Stakes Testing in Spring 2021" with Rep. Jamaal Bowman and many excellent assessment reform experts-- if you missed the event, the video is now online: