Greetings friend,
The year is off to a quick start and we hope you’re managing to keep up with the pace. There is much work to be done by advocates – whether it’s trying to chart a path toward the wide-scale and safe return of in-person schooling, protecting the ability to know how students are doing through assessment, or securing additional resources for educators and families, the ongoing disruption to our education system due to the pandemic is still a major focus.
At America Succeeds, we’ve been active in many of those discussions and wanted to highlight a few key updates below. We’re also gearing up for two new initiatives – Durable Skills and Equity in Education – and we’re excited to share more details about this work in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we hope you stay healthy, stay safe, and stay focused on the critical work ahead.
Best,
The America Succeeds team
America Succeeds joined a broad coalition of advocacy, business, and civil rights groups in signing multiple letters urging Secretary-designate Cardona not to issue waivers for state assessments. Our team is also active in the PIE Network Leadership Council on Assessment and Accountability, as well as a working group of advocates and civil rights organizations convened by Education Counsel.
Eric Lerum is featured in CRPE’s latest report on state accountability during the COVID era. He argues that state assessments and transparency must continue while offering recommendations for states and districts navigating the limitations of accountability during this academic year.
We were pleased to see that the Department of Education heard the call from advocates that assessments must move forward. We think the federal guidance strikes the right balance with accountability and ensures that, in addition to numerous other indicators of students’ wellbeing and growth, we will have some measure of student academic progress.
