LM Feb.2021_lo

Message From the Executive Director Schools Need to Focus on Social-Emotional Needs of Students and Learning Loss—Not Standardized Tests

Dr. Brent Clark

Changing gears, February is Black History Month and a time for all educators to study and reflect on how African Americans have helped shape our history. I want to commend our outstanding African-American school administrators in Illinois who are relentless in their pursuit of equity and excellence for their students and districts. On the cover this month, we highlighted a tremendous educator, Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, superintendent of Peoria SD #150. Dr. Kherat was recently awarded Outstanding Commitment in Education by the state in honor of Black History Month. Every superintendent can learn a lot from Dr. Kherat, and I encourage you to read the story on page 4. I also want to remind you the second session of our professional development workshop series, What’s Race Got to Do With It?, is scheduled for February 11. This session is for administrators and teachers and will provide educators with a level of understanding related to how to implement equity based, culturally responsive instructional practices at the classroom level. Special thanks to Dr. Sonya Whitaker and Dr. Donna Leak for developing this series. To close, the IASA Annual Conference will be held virtually this year, April 7–8. It won’t be the same as in person, but I hope you can join us. We are committed to hosting a dynamic virtual conference and providing administrators an opportunity to network, learn from your peers and be inspired by excellent keynote speakers. Right now, we ask you to save the date and be on the lookout for more information about registration in the coming weeks.

As many districts transition students back into the classrooms or push ahead with in-person learning, the social-emotional impact on students and learning loss caused by the pandemic is weighing heavily on the minds of superintendents. Each day that a teacher, counselor, social worker or staff member can engage and positively impact a student’s life is precious and needed more than ever. Educators working inside buildings understand that reality, which is why so many administrators are frustrated with the possibility of losing days of learning and positive engagement with students to spend multiple days administering standardized assessments this spring. The IASA has partnered with other statewide education organizations in drafting a joint letter urging the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to grant states a waiver to not administer standardized assessments and allow flexibility at the local level. We appreciate State Superintendent Dr. Carmen Ayala’s letter on Friday noting ISBE would advocate the DOE to make waivers available for the spring 2021 assessments, and that if a waiver was made available, Illinois would apply for it. We believe just releasing schools from accountability measures tied to standardized assessments is not enough. The time and energy schools will need to spend on logistics, plus the multiple days it will take to administer the test, could be better spent on health and wellness, social-emotional needs of students and learning loss. To be clear, without a standardized assessment, schools will still have the ability to understand how children are fairing academically through local assessments, which have always produced more timely information that better informs teaching and learning. That data isn’t going away and will be critical moving forward. Lastly, even with a waiver, it’s important for schools that want to administer the assessment to continue to have the ability to do so.

3 LM February 2021