CLAY COUNTY – All schools in Florida must administer state assessments according to President Joe Biden and his education department.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise after regular state testing and school assessments were suspended last year in light of COVID-19. Students were sent home for remote testing, leaving both students and teachers to learn on the fly, and the federal government opted not to test these students who would likely face a learning loss as a result of remote learning and other COVID-19-related education obstacles.

The usual tests return this year, but with some flexibility to accommodate learning during a pandemic, although there’s no way to avoid the test completely. States have been told that they can shorten the length of the tests, administer them remotely, or delay them so that students and teachers have more preparation time.

States also are able to individually determine how to use the results of these tests, which are often used to dole out school grades and more. It’s important to note that Biden’s administration is not putting any requirements on how to use the tests – that decision lies solely with the state.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has not spoken publicly on the matter so there’s no word on what his department of education for Florida will decide to do in regards to how these tests are used, but his education commissioner, Richard Corcoran, did announce that all school districts will receive an additional two weeks of testing time. That’s the change coming to the Clay County School District as well.

“Clay County District Schools will follow the executive order set forth by Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, which will allow two extra weeks to complete state testing safety,” the school district told Clay Today. “The Florida Department of Education requires that all state assessments and end-of-course exams be administered in-person for reliability, validity, and security of the exam.”

This means students currently learning from home will be required to show up to a school testing site and take the test in-person and not remotely from home.

“District leadership and principals are currently working with the parents of remote learners to develop a plan and timeline to continue to offer a safe testing environment for all Clay County students.”

States are also free to request waivers, although Florida currently hasn’t done that. Nine other states have asked to skip the exams and more than 20 states have requested a waiver to waive using the scores for accountability purposes.

CCSD said assessments are important to the process of helping counselors properly schedule students the following school year

“State assessments and end-of-course exams aid in the process of helping school leaders and counselors properly schedule students for the following year to ensure they are receiving the best education for the individual needs of the child.”

The modified testing window for CCSD schools is as follows: the third-grade English language arts reading assessment will be from April 5 to April 30. The writing assessment for grades four through 10 will be from April 5 to April 30 as well. English language arts assessments for grades four through six, math for grades three through six, and science for grades five and eight will take place from May 3 to May 28. The English language arts and math assessments for grades seven through 10 will be from May 3 to June 11.