Whether or not standardized testing will proceed as usual this school year still remains to be seen. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick says it’s ultimately up to the federal government, state lawmakers, or an executive order from Governor Holcomb, to provide the necessary waivers.
“Right now, we have none of that,” McCormick said during her virtual media briefing Thursday. “The feds aren’t willing to pull that card yet, and we’ve not heard anything from our Governor’s Office. I think part of it is waiting to see what happens with some of this. But we know and schools know we don’t have a whole lot of wait time here for fall.”
McCormick said a big challenge is how to test students attending class virtually. She said that in the past, virtual schools have typically been required to have their students take the tests in-person, which caused participation challenges, even without a pandemic. “If the families are like, ‘My child is not coming in. I don’t want them around people,’ but yet we’re saying, ‘But they have to come in for the statewide test, and they’re going to be in with all those kids,’ that’s where the rub is coming,” McCormick explained.
But canceling tests also brings its own challenges. McCormick said she’s waiting for federal guidance on how school accountability could be handled. Various types of testing also factor into Indiana’s graduation requirements.
The COVID-19 pandemic also creates uncertainty for the state’s new Graduation Pathways. They include work-based and service-based learning options, but McCormick pointed out that many businesses are not accepting students due to health concerns. “For instance, if I typically would send a student into our local nursing home, that’s probably not happening at this point, for the CNA type of issues,” McCormick said. “But there are a lot of those that are playing into the conversation, that are real.”
McCormick also noted that courses that may be required for certain students, such as certain AP or fine arts courses, could be hard to adapt to an online format. “When you are designed for an on-site instructional educational environment and you are changing on a dime to do everything on-site, remote, hybrid, it’s not easy and it’s not inexpensive,” she added. “So there’s a financial piece of this, too, that districts are trying to stretch those dollars the best they can. That’s why I have no patience when I’m hearing the conversation about schools that send those kids virtual need to take that 15-percent cut for those virtual students. Really?”
At this point, the first round of statewide tests, which are taken by special ed students and English language learners, are expected to take place as scheduled. McCormick said the fall tests are ready to go, but her department continues to wait for guidance.
