Statement in Support of Federal
Testing Waiver

Dear Interim Commissioner Rosa, Chancellor Young, and Secretary Cardona,

Our grassroots coalition of families and educators, NYC Opt Out,  writes to support NY state in its request to be waived from certain ESSA obligations for spring 2021.

In particular:

  • We FULLY SUPPORT  a waiver from ESSA’s  Spring 2021 testing requirement for students in grades three through eight.

  • We SUPPORT the request to waive the NYSESLAT for students who are learning remotely, but we believe this waiver request does not go far enough. We call for a NYSESLAT waiver that extends to all ENL learners, regardless of their remote/hybrid/in-person status. This is consistent with how the state framed its request for waiving the 3rd-8th grade tests.

  • We SUPPORT that part of the second waiver in which the state asks that in 2021 it be waived from designating schools as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools. The extent of this request is insufficient, however. The state must also ask the federal government to waive exit criteria for those schools already in CSI or TSI status. As currently configured, these criteria keep schools designated unless they can test their way out. The state should be allowed to determine alternate criteria so that schools have a way to emerge from this designation in the face of state tests having been suspended for one, and now possibly, two years.

RATIONALE FOR OUR SUPPORT

This is not a standard year by any means.   

Those who developed ESSA’s testing and accountability requirements did not take into account the potential for a pandemic’s impact on our schools and on our students’ and teachers’ home lives. Neither did they factor in a student’s ability to attend school in-person or remotely, or calculate the myriad ways in which a pandemic would amplify disparities and inequities and disrupt “standardized” testing conditions.

Public school students and their families, and all who work to educate and support them in our schools, have suffered unprecedented health concerns, financial hardships, emotional duress, and personal losses—not to mention challenges to teaching and learning.

SUPPORT FOR WAIVING 2021 GRADE 3-8 TESTS

SUPPORT FOR WAIVING NYSESLAT FOR ALL (NOT JUST REMOTE) ELLs

  • The same reasons that make in-school administration of the grades 3-8 tests insupportable (see section above) apply to in-school testing for the NYSESLAT

  • Scheduling logistics for this assessment, in a set timeframe, and in the context of social distancing, are impractical

    • It is a four-part assessment, typically given to students on four different days over the course of three to four weeks 

    • Students in the hybrid program come to school only 2-3 days a week

  • NYSED says it will offer in-person NYSESLAT testing so that students can demonstrate their ability to exit ELL status, but this is not a good solution

    • It is inequitable to allow in-person ELLs the opportunity to exit the status but deny it to those who are learning remotely

    • Families of ELLS who are learning remotely may feel pressured to send their kids into school buildings for testing even if they believe it’s unsafe

    • Determination of exit status in 2021 could take place at the school level, where ENL teachers know their students well enough to make that call. Schools could form committees to discuss the status of each ELL, using some kind of holistic guideline, perhaps formulated in collaboration with the state

  • Now would be an ideal time to re-think how to determine proficiency levels for English-language learners

    • ENL teachers report that the  length, content, and construction of the NYSESLAT are problematic

    • A more holistic, developmentally appropriate, and less time-consuming approach would better serve students and schools

SUPPORT FOR WAIVING REQUIREMENT TO IDENTIFY SCHOOLS FOR CSI/TSI—AND FOR EXPANDING WAIVER TO INCLUDE ADJUSTMENT OF CSI/TSI EXIT CRITERIA

  • NY state’s ESSA plan uses test scores and attendance figures as the major factors in determining CSI or TSI status in P-8 schools (and graduation rates for high schools), but...

    • Test score data is unavailable for 2020 

    • The availability of test score data for 2021 is to be determined, and even if the tests are administered, their results can in no way be considered a valid way to evaluate schools because of the extreme variation in students’ circumstances (hybrid/remote, device/no device, school open/school closed, smaller-than-usual class size/gargantuan class size, healthy/bereaved, fed/hungry etc etc)

    • This same variation in students’ circumstances invalidates 2020 or 2021 graduation rates as evaluative criteria for determining CSI/TSI

    •  For obvious reasons, attendance data during a pandemic should not be used to label schools as failing

  • NY’s ESSA agreement with the federal government allows schools already designated CSI or TSI to exit that status only if they improve test scores/test participation/attendance/graduation rates (depending on which of these factors earned them the label). We call on NY state to expand the terms of the waiver to request permission to establish alternate exit criteria.

    • Schools have been kept in limbo, unable to exit labeled status because the 2020 tests were not given

    • That limbo may well be extended if the 2021 tests are not administered

    • Even if tests take place this spring, their results will be invalid (see above), rendering their use as an exit criterion farcical

    • Schools experience CSI/TSI status as onerous; they should not be compelled to remain labeled because, through no fault of their own, the pandemic has eviscerated the state’s ESSA formula

  • While the pandemic illuminates the need to amend NY’s criteria for identifying or clearing CSI/TSI status in 2021, the truth is these criteria have never been fair or equitable 

    • Both test scores and absenteeism directly correlate to family income level; schools are punished with the CSI or TSI label simply because they serve student populations that are high-need

    • In NY, no identified CSI school was located in  a “low need” district http://www.nysed.gov/news/2019/state-education-department-announces-new-school-accountability-determinations

    • Our students and schools would be better served by measuring inputs—Are schools getting what they need to serve their particular student bodies? Do they have equal access to needed resources like libraries, art, counselors, small class size? Are there translation services available for families? Health services?

NYC Opt Out is a grassroots coalition of parents and educators concerned about the impact of high-stakes testing on New York City’s schools, children, and teachers. We come from schools all over the city and are 100% volunteer-driven, with no corporate, foundation, or union sponsors.