jwhittaker@post-journal.com
Standardized testing for third through eighth graders is likely to take place this year despite New York education officials’ request for another cancellation.
For nearly 20 years federal law has required schools to test third through eighth grade students once each year in math and reading as well as once in high school. The tests were canceled in March 2020 due to COVID-19, and the New York Education Department had sought to again postpone the tests in New York because students in different schools are learning on different schedules due to the pandemic.
New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia are among the states that were requesting waivers to postpone this year’s testing. While the federal government wants the testing to take place, it is giving states more flexibility in administering the tests. States can give a shortened version of the test, offer remote testing where feasible or expand the testing window into the summer or start of the 2021-22 school year.