OSPI Proposed Student Assessment Plan for 2020-21 School Year

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 03/17/2021 07:34 AM PDT

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OSPI Proposed Student Assessment Plan for 2020-21 School Year

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued a process for states to submit a waiver of some federal requirements for assessment and accountability in the 2020–21 school year. While some flexibility on requirements is being considered, ED is not inviting full waiver requests.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s (OSPI) proposed student assessment plan for spring 2021 aims to drastically reduce testing burdens on students, families, schools, and school districts across Washington while also fulfilling the need to obtain precise, representative estimates of students’ academic proficiency levels.

Learn More About Washington’s Proposal

Learn more about our proposal during a free informational webinar, March 17, 2021 at 5 pm. Advance registration is available on Zoom. A recording of the webinar will be available on the OSPI website within 48 hours.

OSPI is required to notify the public and all local education agencies (LEAs)/school districts of Washington state’s intent to request this waiver. Districts and the public are asked to provide comment on the waiver request to OSPI.

The public comment period opens Tuesday, March 16, 2021 and will close at 5 pm on Monday, March 22, 2021. The waiver request may be viewed and comments left through a public comment survey. The survey is also available in Spanish.

The waiver application will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education on March 23, 2021, following a review of received comments.

More About Washington’s Approach

OSPI proposes to test a representative sample of Washington students in English language arts (ELA), math, and science in the spring of 2021. If our request is approved, assessments would be administered in five grade levels, with only one subject per grade level.

Benefits of our proposed approach include:

Reduced state assessments allow districts to prioritize instructional time and classroom-based assessments to gauge student progress.
Increased emphasis on district-determined assessments, which will inform student learning recovery and acceleration plans.
Provides an accurate statewide estimate of students’ proficiency levels, as well as changes in proficiency levels pre- and post-pandemic.

More information about Washington’s proposed approach is available on the OSPI website.

If you have any questions about this request, please contact assessmentwaivercomments@k12.wa.us.

This notice can be found on the Public Notices & Waiver Requests to the U.S. Department of Education website.

More Information

OSPI’s webpage about Washington’s approach
Short handout with more information
- Short handout: English
- Short handout: Spanish
Full waiver request
Public comment survey (closes at 5 pm on March 22, 2021)
- Public comment survey: English
- Public comment survey: Spanish

ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.

Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.

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