The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) plans to apply for a stateside waiver from giving the Smarter Balanced Assessment for the 2020-21 school year.  We look forward to working with the Biden administration to change many of these ludicrous decisions.  

The Oregon Education Association (OEA) has been strongly advocating on our behalf. In a letter to ODE, OEA President John Larson wrote: 

“We can do better by Oregon students and use this opportunity to truly take steps to end the systemic inequity that has long been present in education. The pandemic, the racial and social unrest in the country, and the economic upheaval hitting vulnerable families has shone a bright spotlight on those inequities. Now is the time to take action at the root of these inequities. It is not the time to continue to simply measure the outcomes of those inequities, as statewide summative tests have done for the past 20 years.” You can read the full letter here.

As it prepares to submit the application for this waiver, ODE has requested input from the education community. You can submit letters of support to ODE before December 15th. You can use both the OEA Letter of Support and the attached talking points as tools to help you in drafting these letters. Submit your feedback to [email protected].