U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that states affected by school closures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can request a waiver from the Department for relief from federally mandated testing requirements for this school year.
States unable to assess its students may seek a waiver from federal testing requirements by completing a form available at oese.ed.gov. Additionally, because statewide accountability systems include measures on student performance on the statewide assessments, any state that receives a one-year waiver may also receive a waiver from the requirement that this testing data be used in the statewide accountability system due to the national emergency.
On March 18, 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to waive, pending federal approval, this year’s statewide testing for California’s more than 6 million students in K-12 schools.
To read the Department’s announcement, visit: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/helping-students-adversely-affected-school-closures-secretary-devos-announces-broad-flexibilities-states-cancel-testing-during-national-emergency
To read Gov. Newsom’s executive order, visit: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/03/18/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-to-suspend-standardized-testing-for-students-in-response-to-covid-19-outbreak/?
