Credit: (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
File photo: Child undergoing COVID-19 swab test
Testing students for the coronavirus is poised to become the latest flashpoint as Newark prepares to reopen classrooms this spring.
The district has purchased air purifiers, desktop barriers, and hundreds of thousands of face masks, and is requiring teachers to test negative before returning to school buildings, which have been closed for nearly a year. But with in-person learning scheduled to resume in April, the district still hasn’t decided whether to test students for COVID-19 a safety measure that has been “under consideration” since the summer.
As Schools Face Upheaval, Biden Administration Says Standardized Testing Must Continue
The decision was made without Miguel Cardona, President Biden s nominee to run the Education Department.
The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that schools will still be required to administer standardized tests for the 2020-2021 school year despite months of upheaval in which many students failed to step foot inside a school building.
The decision was made without the leadership of Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s nominee for education secretary, according to an Education Department spokesperson. Cardona has not yet been confirmed, leaving senior department leadership, including Acting Secretary of Education Phil Rosenfelt, to make a call amid urgent questions from states about whether to plan for exams.
Biden Administration Won t Let States Cancel Standardized Testing But Will Allow Delays newson6.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newson6.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Teacher’s View: What Policymakers And The Public Don’t Understand About Reopening Schools Patch 2/24/2021
In summary
By the time the safety recommendations are implemented and running smoothly, the school year will be ending.
By Glenn Sacks, Special to CalMatters
Glenn Sacks teaches Social Studies in the Los Angeles Unified School District, glenn@glennsacks.com.
Teachers unions are under attack, as our well-founded concern for our students, their families, and yes, ourselves, is being portrayed as a political powerplay, or worse. Yet there are many problems with reopening which government officials, media commentators and the public don’t understand.
COLLIN BINKLEY
The Education Department said Monday that it will not allow states to forgo federally required standardized testing in schools this year but will give them flexibility to delay testing or hold it online during the pandemic.
Aiming for a middle ground in a polarized debate, the Biden administration said states must continue with annual testing but can apply to be exempted from certain accountability measures tied to the results.
States also will be allowed to move tests to the summer or fall, or they can offer shortened tests or online assessments.
In a letter to state education chiefs on Monday, Ian Rosenblum, an acting assistant education secretary, said testing will help schools understand the impact of the pandemic and how to help students.