Thousands of Michigan students are learning virtually but schools are still required to conduct standardized tests this spring, but they will have more flexibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education recently informed states.
The Biden administration last week offered school leaders guidance in administering statewide summative assessments, including flexibility for administering shorter versions of the federally mandated state exams, offering them remotely, and delaying testing.
But in a letter to state education leaders, acting Assistant Education Secretary Ian Rosenblum wrote that standardized tests are too crucial for collecting data on how COVID-19 has impacted learning to be waived in 2021.
“We must be prepared to address the educational inequities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, including by using student learning data to enable states, school districts, and schools to target resources and supports to the students with the greatest needs,” Rosenblum wrote.
The guidance comes after Michigan’s second request that the federal government waive standardized testing for 2021 because of the pandemic. Michigan Superintendent Michael Rice argued the exams cannot be administered fairly and safely while thousands of students are still at home learning remotely – many lacking consistent Internet access.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos allowed Michigan to waive standardized testing in spring 2020 as schools were shifting abruptly to remote learning during the start of the pandemic but denied the first 2021 waiver request in September.
While the federal government has said states will need to administer exams, Michigan’s education department understood the Feb. 22 guidance “to not be a blanket acceptance or rejection of anything, but instead an opportunity to submit state-specific waiver considerations.”
“The letter says there’s going to be no cookie-cutter approach like there was at the beginning of the pandemic last year,” Rice said in a Feb. 24 Michigan Department of Education news release. “What USED (U.S. Department of Education) basically said was that it is open to considerations on the accountability side and a little less open on the assessment side.”
On Tuesday, March 2, Rice said Michigan’s waiver request is still pending.
“We anticipate getting a response from USED to our waiver request before the statutory deadline,” Rice said Tuesday in a statement. “MDE is prepared to administer the state assessments in the event a federal waiver is not approved.”
RELATED: Michigan asking feds to cancel standardized tests after year of inconsistent education
In his Jan. 25 request to the federal government, Rice argued a majority of students have received inconsistent to no instruction in-person during the 2020-21 school year.
He asked the federal government to waive Michigan’s standardized test, the M-STEP, and replace it with locally administered benchmark assessments.
Michigan education officials say there’s still a chance that could happen.
“We anticipate getting a response from USED to our waiver request before the statutory deadline,” Rice said Tuesday. “MDE is prepared to administer the state assessments in the event a federal waiver is not approved.”
The guidance from the Biden administration acknowledged that some school districts may not be able to safely administer state standardized tests using their standardized practices. Rosenblum said the federal education department will work with states to address their individual needs.
“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,” Rosenblum wrote.
While Rice acknowledged the importance of collecting data on learning loss, he argued that can be done with benchmark assessments instead of standardized tests.
“We are able to discern where kids are academically for parents and for educators with our benchmark assessments, and we can use the assessments to target resources, interventions, and supports for our kids in our districts,” Rice said Feb. 23 after the federal guidance was issued.
Bay City Public Schools Superintendent Steve Bigelow previously told MLive that benchmark assessments, like the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), allow educators to track student progress throughout the year, while standardized tests only provide a “snapshot” of where students are at the end of the year.
But Amber Arellano, executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest, argued local assessments don’t hold all students to the same standards and expectations. She issued a statement Feb. 23 in support of the federal government denying a blanket waiver of standardized tests.
“They do not offer appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities or English learners, as required under federal law for statewide assessments; they are not peer reviewed to ensure quality and prevent bias; and the results of these assessments will not be comparable from district to district,” Arellano wrote.
In the federal guidance, Rosenblum said states will be allowed to request waivers of the accountability and school identification requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which would also lower the requirement that 95% of students take the exams.
Rice said the guidance marks “the beginning of a new part of the process that could take some time.”
“I appreciate that, during the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education has recognized the need for a number of flexibilities, including school identification, accountability, and participation rate,” Rice said.
To help you navigate this complicated school year, we’re pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up.
More on MLive:
More Michigan students back in class since Gov. Whitmer’s call for more in-person learning
5 things to know about Michigan’s last school standing for virtual learning
How Michigan classrooms will look ahead of students’ return since pandemic
$500 Michigan ‘Classroom Heroes’ grants expanded to include more teachers
Remote learning ‘not sustainable,’ Whitmer says, praising schools for going back in person