Dive Brief:
- As soon as the spring, states may face reductions in federal aid if less than 95% of students participate in standardized tests mandated by the federal government, the U.S. Department of Education announced.
- A reported $1.1 billion in aid is at stake in New York, where 20% of students from third through eighth grade opted out of Common Core-aligned tests last year.
- The Department of Education's warning was delivered to all state education directors and comes after widespread testing backlash in 2015.
Dive Insight:
Last month, the New York Board of Regents postponed the use of test scores in teacher evaluations for four years. That decision was made after the state legislature decided to place an increased focus on the use of test scores in measuring teacher efficacy.
The new warning from the Department of Education comes at an interesting time. Since the Every Student Succeeds Act now places more decision-making power back into the hands of individual states, more may decide to move away from Common Core-aligned testing once that law takes effect.
The backlash against what was seen as a consolidation of power by former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, including tying test-based teacher evals and Common Core standards to Race to the Top funding or No Child Left Behind waivers, will likely see states develop their own testing regimens and evaluation standards under the new law.