State should not roll back school testing

The COVID-19 public health crisis has severely impacted children, particularly our most vulnerable. Over the last three weeks, the state and federal governments have worked to strike a balance: address the educational needs of students, while also protecting the immediate health needs of all our citizens. Here in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont has struck this balance by canceling classes across the state until at least April 20 and waiving the 180-day school year requirements, while also providing access to meals and learning to students at home. As a parent and education advocate, I am grateful for this leadership during incredibly difficult times.

Over the last week, some additional action from the state in response to new federal measures has highlighted why Connecticut must be thoughtful about the longer-term educational impact of this crisis on our students. First, Connecticut waived the mandated annual statewide assessment — the Smarter Balanced Assessment in Connecticut, or SBAC, which measures student achievement and makes the results public. Second, the state waived the school district requirement to fulfill the Every Student Succeeds Act, which further established equal opportunity for all students.

Both waivers make a world of sense in these times. That said, Connecticut should not lose sight of the long-term implications for equity if we eliminate these important growth measures this year. Although many teachers and parents may find flaws with state assessments and standards, these measures are oriented towards closing opportunity gaps for students in every state and district. Until the passage of No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, under President George W. Bush, requiring states to break out test scores by racial and economic group, English language proficiency and disability, gaps in academic achievement were often hidden within statewide performance averages.

For example, on last year’s administration of the SBAC, 54.6 percent of fourthgraders statewide met or exceeded performance expectations in English Language Arts. However, disaggregating that data to look at performance by incomelevel reveals that only 36.2 percent of fourth-graders from low-income families met or exceeded ELA expectations that year, as compared to 70.5 percent of their peers from higher-income families.

Unfortunately, it’s now inevitable that when we lose out on this year’s annual data, we will not be able to assess the extent to which gaps have grown or narrowed since previous years. And many professional interests groups that have been pushing for an end to “high-stakes testing” will no doubt want to make this year’s testing waiver permanent. However, as a state, we must commit to continuing to test once this health crisis is over.

Testing continuity not only provides valuable data for parents, educators and policymakers about students’ academic preparedness in specific years, it also facilitates year-over-year comparisons, which allow us to measure the efficacy of our public education investments, especially with respect to serving highneed student populations. That’s why civil rights and national nonprofit education leaders — including The Education Trust, National Urban League and the Center for American Progress — have already responded to the federal waivers for assessments, writing: “Should a targeted, one-time waiver from annual assessments be granted to a state in response to coronavirus, it is critical for accountability determinations to be carried over from the prior year to ensure transparency and continued support for students while any such waivers are in effect.”

As an education advocate and a public school parent myself, I am supportive of the necessary steps districts must take during this unsettling time for our country and our communities. Nevertheless, as we look ahead, we cannot let these temporary changes become an opening for a long-term roll back of accountability over the progress of students. There are already so many ways in which our most at-risk student populations — those who have special needs or live in poverty or are enrolled in struggling districts — will be affected by this crisis. As adults, we should commit to maintaining the continuity of high standards and opportunity for all students in the better days to come.