Our View: Spring standardized testing should be waived again

If the federal government continues its push for annual standardized tests this spring, a few things are likely to occur:

– Superintendents will have to scramble with the logistics of administering the typically in-person testing when many schools are still on a hybrid model.

– Students will be pulled away from their current instruction during an already disruptive school year.

– If the goal to push on with this year’s testing is to assess learning loss or academic progress during a pandemic, and some of the results don’t come out until fall, the usefulness of the tests appears to be insignificant.

More than 80% of the state’s superintendents agree – grant a waiver on this spring’s standardized assessments as was done last year due to the pandemic.

More than 680 of the state’s superintendents have signed off on a letter to the U.S. Department of Education seeking a waiver.

These school officials represent more than 1.2 million students, many of whom are still adjusting to this past year’s challenge of hybrid learning.

Coupled with this, a recent statewide survey on teacher and substitute shortages shows many districts are combatting an ongoing issue of filling open teacher positions, creating challenges now and in the future.

And yet President Joe Biden’s administration said states must administer federally required standardized tests this year to measure the pandemic’s impact on learning. These tests are typically conducted in-person, but his administration has offered some flexibility, including inviting states to apply for waivers and not holding schools accountable for the results. States also could give shorter, remote, or delayed versions of the exams, according to the directive.

The performance ratings from these tests are included in the Illinois Report Card.

But we have to question the necessity of disrupting an already challenging learning environment with tests that seem to, at this time, offer little value, not to mention the difficult task of how to logistically administer them.

“Standardized tests have never been valid or reliable measures of what students know and are able to do, and they are especially unreliable now,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said.

Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent Tony Sanders is leading the charge, and said students already are struggling with pandemic learning loss and it would be difficult to lose another week of instruction to administer standardized tests in person, when most students are learning remotely and families don’t want them in school buildings.

“We have all sorts of other assessment data that we could share with the state and feds. I don’t need this test,” Sanders said.

States were granted waivers from having to administer summative assessments last school year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is improving with the vaccination rollout, but we are not out of the woods.

Administering standardized tests is not the best use of educators’ already limited time, and certainly not a needed disruption for students.

We’re not debating the merits of standardized testing, only that more pressing matters need the focus of educators right now.

An issue that requires immediate attention is the progression of a teacher and substitute shortage throughout the state and nation – an issue that started prior to the pandemic but has gotten progressively dire.

Low pay, too much emphasis on testing, a sense of disrespect for the profession and no influence in policy decisions are cited as getting in the way of recruiting new teachers, according to superintendents who responded to the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents survey and spoke to Shaw Media Local News Network.

The survey has been conducted each of the past four years by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools.

“You know, it’s not like we just stubbed our toe, this is a crisis,” IARSS President Mark Klaisner said. “It’s getting worse each year. And when we asked them to look forward, they said, you know, in the next five years, we don’t see this changing.”

Individual districts have responded to the shortage in a variety of ways, such as canceling the offering of some classes or switching them to online formats as well as filling critical positions with teachers who are not fully qualified to teach in a particular grade level or subject area.

The survey also offers a variety of recommendations, which we hope gain momentum immediately.

Some ideas included continuing to extend some of the waivers initiated to make it easier for new teachers to become licensed, and expand on a program Illinois State University has launched to offer teacher training courses through satellite campuses throughout the state.

The regional superintendents also recommend Illinois lawmakers consider establishing a state-sponsored loan forgiveness program for teachers that go to work in schools and districts with the greatest shortages or in hard-to-fill subject areas.

On Monday, ISBE officials made requests for added funding for teacher recruiting and retention programs, some of which were initiated with federal coronavirus relief funding. ISBE requested $17 million for various programs aimed at addressing the shortage.

The teacher shortage and standardized tests are separate but related challenges. With how much face-to-face instruction has been lost during the pandemic, we fail to see the how the standardized tests are a priority.