State to apply for federal waiver to try out new school evaluation system
ALBANY — A new type of assessment system could be in the works for New York as the state Education Department plans to apply for a federal pilot program under the new Every Student Succeeds Act — a program lawmakers said was written with New York in mind.
The federal legislation, which passed in December and replaced the broad No Child Left Behind law, would initially give waivers to seven states allowing them to have a school district, or in some cases the whole state or consortium of states, the opportunity to operate a new assessment system in lieu of state tests for accountability purposes, according to federal lawmakers involved in creating the bill.
“We’re probably going to apply for any kind of relief we could have in being one of those states that does pilot programs with certain types of assessments,” state education commissioner MaryEllen Elia told POLITICO New York. “I’ve got people that are watching for that to come out so that we can be one of the ones that applies, but we don’t know if we’ll get it.”
When asked if the pilot would be for one school district or for the entire state, Elia said they would wait to see what guidance the the federal education department issues. It State to apply for federal waiver to try out new school evaluation system | POLITICO: