Students in Colorado just got some happy news: no state testing!
All standardized testing for students has been canceled this year in a move announced by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) on March 17, 2020. The cancellation includes the yearly Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) tests as well as PSAT and SAT tests, and year-end assessments.
“With the extraordinary actions we are taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it’s clear that we need to press pause on our CMAS tests this year,” CDE Commissioner Katy Anthes said. “Students and educators need to feel a sense of stability and normalcy before state tests can be administered and produce valid results. This also means we plan to pause our school and district state accountability system as it relates to state assessments for a year.”
The CDE said in an official news release that they will be working with individual districts, the U.S. Department of Education, and the College Board to come up with solutions to work through this new development. The College Board will assist with developing alternative ways and solutions for administering the PSAT and SAT as it relates to college-bound students who need these scores for scholarships and college entrance. Anthes also stated that the CDE will be working with the U.S. Department of Education to complete waivers for federal accountability issues from the decision to cancel testing in the state.
Governor Jared Polis supported the decision giving this statement:
“I’m a big fan of accountability and transparency in public education, but we will simply have to forgo incredibly useful data on student achievement for a year to help contain the virus, now, students, families, and educators need to be focused on doing everything they can to keep families safe and stable. It is clear that COVID-19 will put extraordinary stress on our education system for the coming weeks and months. In order to ensure our schools and educators are able to spend as much time as possible on online instruction in a difficult situation, I support the decision to pause assessments and school accountability for this year only.”
With schools across the state closed for the next two weeks (or more in some places), students in Colorado face the question of when or if they will return to classes, and what to expect moving forward. This seems to be a rapidly changing situation and districts are moving quickly to develop online and distance learning responses, as parents, students and educators wait to see how the 2019-2020 school year will play out. Needless to say, it's a year that will not be ending the way most students ever anticipated.
What do you think about this decision? Share with us how this will affect you in the comments.
