In a letter to governors and state superintendents issued last night, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs in the US Department of Education (USDoE) announced that the US Department of Education will not grant blanket waivers from federal assessment requirements for this spring. However, the letter also recognized that some schools may face circumstances in which they are not able to safely administer statewide summative assessments this spring and outlined some areas of flexibility that states may be able to obtain through a waiver process. Those include:

  • Extending the testing window and moving assessments to the summer or fall;
  • Giving the assessment remotely, where feasible;
  • Shortening the state assessment to make testing more feasible to implement and prioritize in-person learning time; and
  • Waiving the federal accountability requirements for the 2020-21 school year, including the mandate to identify Priority Schools.

In a February 22, 2021 Press Release, MDE announced they will explore flexibility waivers for assessments and accountability.  In the release, State Superintendent Dr. Rice stated that MDE would work with the USDOE to determine what type of waiver Michigan will seek.  He noted, “The Michigan legislature passed and the governor signed into law last summer the requirement that local districts administer locally chosen, locally administered benchmark assessments to provide parents and educators with the knowledge of where children are academically and to help target resources and supports as a result.” 

At this point there are more questions than answers:

  • Based on the MDE press release, it seems as though Michigan will pursue a waiver to allow locally chosen and administered benchmark assessments to be used in place of M-STEP this school year. Whether or not that passes muster with USDoE and what other options MDE may pursue are yet to be determined.
  • It is unclear what impact this flexibility may have for students in grades 8-11 who would typically take PSAT or SAT rather than M-STEP.
  • We do not know whether MDE will pursue a longer testing window or, possibly, a postponement in state testing (e.g. Fall 2021).
  • In their press release, USDoE indicated that the waivers would "explicitly include waiving the accountability provisions relating to having a 95 percent test participation rate." However, it is unclear whether this means schools are required to administer state assessments to all students, only those in face-to-face on day of testing, or merely need to offer the opportunity for students to take state assessment during a given window.
  • In addition to the 95% participation rate, states were also extended the opportunity to "request a waiver for the 2020-2021 school year of the accountability and school identification requirements." What the scope of that might be or what it will look like in Michigan is likewise an unknown.
  • The federal flexibility has no direct impact on state assessments like WorkKeys or M-STEP Social Studies that are not federally mandated, but expect indirect pressure on the Michigan Legislature to lead to a debate about waiving these other tests.
  • It is also unclear what impact a flexibility waiver, if granted, may have on educator evaluations for this school year. If Michigan is granted permission to replace the ELA and mathematics M-STEP assessments with benchmark assessments for this school year, does that impact the provision in state law requiring half of the student growth and assessment component of and educators evaluation to be based on "state assessments" in "grades and subjects in which state assessments are administered." In other words, if we are using benchmark assessments for federal accountability purposes, does that in turn make them state assessments for other purposes, like Michigan's educator evaluation law (e.g., 20% of an educator’s evaluation)?

Clearly, there are many unknowns that will have to be addressed and issues that will have to play themselves out as MDE moves forward with the federal waiver process. MASSP will continue to keep members apprised as the situation develops.

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