DeVos says schools must still have mandated standardized testing during coronavirus pandemic

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told state leaders Thursday that standardized testing requirements for K-12 schools would be enforced this year, after being suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic last spring.

DeVos told state school chiefs not to expect the Education Department to wave federal testing requirements as it did amid sudden school closures in the spring, news that received mixed responses on both sides of the aisle.

The decision to suspend testing in March and April was the “right call,” DeVos said, “given the limited information available about the virus at the time and the need to stop its spread, as well as the practical realities limiting the administration of assessments.”

But for the new school year, the Trump administration expects states to carry out the assessments required under the Every Student Succeeds Act, DeVos said, according to Politico.

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Some governors, like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, had asked the Education Department to consider suspending standardized tests during the upcoming school year due to budget cuts and other uncertainties amid the pandemic.

Richard Woods, the Republican superintendent of Georgia schools, criticized the education secretary’s decision.

“It is disappointing, shows a complete disconnect with the realities of the classroom, and will be a detriment to public education,” he said in a statement.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also expressed her displeasure, accusing DeVos of "forcing high-stakes testing on our young children during a global pandemic."

"This virus has had an unprecedented impact on our kids, and forcing them to take these assessments during a time when families everywhere are working around the clock to stay safe is cruel," Whitmer said in a statement.

DeVos said that failing to enforce standardized testing will set students back even further.

“If we fail to assess students, it will have a lasting effect for years to come,” DeVos wrote in her letter. “Not only will vulnerable students fall behind, but we will be abandoning the important, bipartisan reforms of the past two decades at a critical moment.”

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DeVos’ decision also won rare praise from some Democrats. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, said that testing data was necessary to measure education disparities.

“Especially when it comes to the disparities that harm so many students of color, students with disabilities and students whose families have low incomes, we’ve got to have data that shows us where we’re falling short so we can better support those students,” she said.

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Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, praised DeVos’ decision. “There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic is having severe consequences for students’ growth and achievement, particularly for our most vulnerable students,” he said in a statement. “We cannot begin to address these consequences, unless we fully understand them.”