Dive Brief:
- California officials want to administer a pilot of the state's next generation science test this spring and conduct a longer field test next spring, but the U.S. Department of Education says that won’t square with requirements of No Child Left Behind or the Every Student Succeeds Act.
- EdSource reports the state applied for a waiver in June to stop administering its old test, which was based on old science standards, in favor of phasing in a new test based on the Next Generation Science Standards that teachers have already begun teaching, but the feds rejected that request in September.
- The state appealed that decision but it was rejected last week, as federal education law says states have to administer science tests to students in fifth and eighth grade and once in high school and then publish the results — and the feds say if California only administers a pilot, state officials would not get enough information to improve student achievement or provide transparent reporting to parents or the public.
Dive Insight:
The Every Student Succeeds Act allows for a testing pilot program in which states can administer a new assessment to a portion of students on the way to scaling it statewide. In this scenario, however, states have to administer a traditional assessment to the vast majority of students. This fulfills accountability requirements under the law. Just like the opt-out movement threatens to do in some districts, if a critical mass of students do not all take the same test, the validity of comparisons becomes invalid.
The last time California went head-to-head with the federal government, it won. The state wanted to phase in a new test aligned to the Common Core in the same way it plans to phase in the new science test, and while the federal government first threatened to withhold more than $1 billion in Title I funding if the state didn’t comply with its ruling, it eventually granted a waiver. The Trump administration, however, may not shy away from a nuclear solution.
