Peach Tree Times

Georgia is among the first states in the country to officially call for waiving standardized test requirements for the upcoming 2020-21 school year.

These tests, known as "high-stakes tests,” have come under criticism recently, especially due to COVID-19, for how much sway they have in measuring student and teacher success and achievement.

Georgia is seeking a federal waiver for testing requirements for the upcoming school year, Education Week reported. The state will provide a "low-stakes" optional test in the interim to provide accountability and identify struggling students. This also comes as the state legislature has voted to move away from "high-stakes" tests and reduce the number of standardized tests given to students.

John Adams, executive director of the educator’s advocacy group Educators First, told Peach Tree Times he is pleased to see Georgia take action and move forward with its effort to dump “high stakes” testing In part because of the unfair impact it has on students, teachers and parents.

“Teaching is a difficult profession in optimal conditions, and these are certainly less than optimal conditions," Adams told Peach Tree Times. "Imagine on March 12, you are thinking that the following week you are returning to the classroom, and then the following week you have to turn on a dime and figure out how to teach kids on Zoom or any of the platforms that are being used digitally. The pandemic has made it much harder and I don’t only on teachers but also on administrators, parents and students. 

"In terms of standardized testing, high stakes standardized testing, it has dubious value under optimal conditions and these are certainly not optimal conditions,“ he told Peach Tree Times.

Adams feels the over-reliance on “high stakes“ testing is clearer now during the pandemic as students struggle to keep up online and will need to catch up on their work when they are able to get back in the classroom.

“The need for high-stakes standardized testing is even more diminished during this time. We certainly support Georgia’s move to opt-out, at least temporarily, out of high stakes standardized testing,” Adams told Peach Tree Times. “You’re going to have a gap in the baseline so to speak and won’t be able to use this year or last year so there will be at least two years of a gap in standardized testing and potentially more depending on what effect the pandemic has on in-person learning.”

Adams does realize that there are some advocates of the “high stakes“ tests, but he feels like being able to opt-out is a clear win for teachers, students and parents.

“There are some people who are literally in the business of testing and have a whole history built around that,” he told Peach Tree Times. “We are not against accountability and most teachers are in favor of accountability in some form of standardized assessment. But at the same time, they are not in support of a one size fits all statewide or national high stakes testing assessment.”