A Policy Analysis of States' Responses to Federal Testing Waivers During the Coronavirus Pandemic

• In Event: Infrastructure for Accountability Policy and Practice

Abstract

Researchers examined the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) high-stakes test and accountability waivers of the 12 states that submitted requests to the federal government during the COVID pandemic (i.e., the 2020-2021 academic school year). Researchers examined these waivers via a critical education policy framework and political spectacle lens. Researchers used descriptive and bivariate statistics and qualitative approaches to help understand the stories behind these waivers, especially in terms of the rationales and justifications state leaders used on behalf of states' public schools. Researchers found that states were explicitly committed to ESSA but, given the "unprecedented" times caused by the "unprecedented" pandemic, prioritized more notions of equity, care, and socio-emotional well-being. Regardless, most state waivers were denied.

Authors

• Imogen Herrick, University of Kansas
  Presenting Author

• Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sharon L. Nichols, University of Texas - San Antonio
  Non-Presenting Author