ABSTRACT

State education systems in the U.S. experienced major disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from assessments administered during, and at the conclusion of, the 2020-21 school year indicate substantial ‘unfinished learning’, with the losses generally greater among disadvantaged and marginalized students. States’ assessment systems are strongly tilted toward meeting Federal accountability requirements, especially state-wide comparability of end-of year test results, which severely limits innovation. The two-year pause in accountability due to the pandemic presents an opportunity to radically rethink school accountability, allowing states greater flexibility in developing creative interventions and more balanced assessment systems to better support student learning. A new trade-off between comparability and local flexibility is long overdue, especially given the poor record of the current system in promoting learning and closing achievement gaps. We offer some examples of how the trade-off can be accomplished and the potential benefits that would ensue.

摘要

由于 COVID-19 大流行，美国的州教育系统经历了重大中断。在 2020-21 学年期间和结束时进行的评估结果表明存在大量“未完成的学习”，弱势和边缘化学生的损失通常更大。各州的评估系统强烈倾向于满足联邦问责要求，尤其是年终测试结果在全州范围内的可比性，这严重限制了创新。由于大流行病导致问责制暂停两年，这为从根本上重新思考学校问责制提供了一个机会，使各州能够更灵活地制定创造性干预措施和更平衡的评估系统，以更好地支持学生学习。可比性和本地灵活性之间的新权衡早就应该进行了，特别是考虑到当前系统在促进学习和缩小成就差距方面的记录不佳。我们提供了一些示例，说明如何实现权衡以及随之而来的潜在好处。