State Strategies on Assessments in 2021

When the U.S. Department of Education (ED) signaled that the broad waivers for state assessments it had offered in 2019–20 would not be widely offered in 2021, it sought to balance the need for student learning data to inform pandemic recovery with the very real operational challenges states face in administering tests this year.

In his confirmation hearing, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona made clear that it was not his intention to return students to the classroom for the sole purpose of testing. ED also moved to decouple the accountability provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act from assessment requirements and has approved school accountability waivers for 45 states. …