Students won’t have to take national math and readings tests designed to test their knowledge in those subjects until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress was previously planned to be given at the start of the 2021 school year for fourth and eighth graders across the country, according to Reuters. The test is commonly known as “the nation’s report card.”
“I have determined that NCES cannot at this time conduct a national-level assessment in a manner with sufficient validity and reliability to meet the mandate of the law,” National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner James Woodworth said Wednesday, adding that he was concerned about potentially exposing students to COVID-19 if he mandated the in-person test.
The delay will allow for conditions to stabilize and will save money, Woodworth said. He added that the postponement will allow states time to conduct their own state tests in the spring of 2021.
For national testing to be delayed, Congress will have to sign off on the idea because the NAEP is federally mandated.
Lawmakers, as well as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, supported the move to proceed with state testing next spring.
Schools have been largely upended by the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many students, teachers, and parents to struggle with remote learning. Timelines to reopen schools have been varied by state and local mandates.
As coronavirus cases continue to surge, New York City, the nation’s largest school district, shut down again last week after less than two months of in-person learning.
Nearly 13 million people in the country have contracted COVID-19, and over 260,000 in the United States have died.
