MERC Publications
Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2021
Date of Submission
April 2021
Abstract
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person instruction in Virginia public schools was suspended in March 2020 for the remainder of the school year. In 2020-2021, Virginia schools offered an evolving range of virtual, hybrid, concurrent, and face-to-face instruction. Despite the challenges of schooling during the pandemic, federal high-stakes testing mandates remained in place in 2020-2021, and all students identified as English learners (ELs) were still required to take the annual assessment of English language proficiency (ELP), the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs©. Since this test cannot be administered remotely, ELs participating in virtual schooling were expected to return to school buildings solely to take the test, despite serious concerns for safety and test validity being raised by several educational and civil rights organizations. This mini-brief explains these concerns, and offers recommendations for schools confronting the challenges of administering the test and interpreting test results during the pandemic.
Is Part Of
VCU MERC Publications
Comments
Part of a series of policy and practice mini-briefs prepared by MERC's English Learner Research and Evaluation Team