ESSA assessments: increased chances for improper test uses and negative consequences for students, teachers and schools.

Between May and August of 2018, the federal government approved 44 proposals submitted by state departments of education to meet testing and accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. As these states move towards implementing their federally approved plans for meeting external regulatory requirements for accountability, they face several challenges. They should be alert to any unexpected negative outcomes of testing on students, schools, and education systems, and they need guidelines to help them avoid test misuses. These guidelines should explain how best to apply information from the adopted tests with a mind to their design and with close attention to their purposes, technical merits and limitations.  

Today, NEPC is releasing A Consumer’s Guide to Testing under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): What Can the Common Core and Other ESSA Assessments Tell Us?, written by Professor Madhabi Chatterji of Teachers College, Columbia University. 

As Professor Chatterji explains, misuse of test information in educational accountability contexts is like misreading a Fahrenheit thermometer in degrees Celsius. Such misuses can pose unexpected barriers to goals that educators and stakeholders hope to achieve in schools. Her guide analyzes current conditions in the context of ESSA—conditions that could cause serious test misuses similar to those of the past.

Her analysis finds that new testing programs, ESSA’s latest accountability requirements, and state plans combine to present “black boxes” that increase the chances for improper test uses and negative consequences for students, teachers and schools.