Aug. 16, 2023 — ... The changes were approved unanimously Tuesday by the Missouri board of education. In all, 20 districts statewide were granted “innovation waivers” to spurn spring standardized tests.

... Those districts must present the board with a draft of an alternative program for evaluating students by early 2024.

... The innovation waivers allow districts to move beyond the No Child Left Behind era of standardized testing that began in the early 2000s, where the focus was on scores from whole districts and subgroups rather than individual students, administrators said. Read more here.

Sept. 7, 2023 — ... Frustrated with an accountability system that revolves around once-a-year standardized exams, more states are looking to redesign the tests, hoping they provide teachers and districts with more timely and useful feedback on their students’ progress.

Last month, the Montana education department secured a rare waiver from the U.S. Department of Education, allowing the state to forgo its usual standardized tests used for federal accountability purposes and instead field test a new system of exams given at various points throughout the 2023-24 school year. In Missouri, the state education department has awarded “innovation waivers” to a group of 20 school districts so they can pilot through-year programs in addition to the state standardized tests, and the state is hoping to secure a federal waiver like the one Montana received to start offering the through-year tests in lieu of the current system. Read more here.

Aug. 14, 2023 — ... When Missouri’s innovation waiver plan was unveiled in June, the entire State Board of Education voiced support for it.

“It is a gift to the students, the parents and families in Missouri, and I would say nationwide,” said Charles Shields, board president. “Others will learn from us nationwide.” Vice President Carol Hallquist said she believed it will “change the face of education” in Missouri.

“I think we’re all going at this cautiously. Research is going to sit at the core of this,” Mike Fulton of the Success-Ready Students Network said. “But you have to be willing to be entrepreneurial and innovative and  that’s what I think these districts are being asked to do. We need more of that in public education.” Read more here.

Aug. 16, 2023 — ... The Missouri State Board of Education unanimously approved an exemption for 19 districts and one charter school to measure student achievement using alternative assessments instead of the state’s prescribed methods.

... Students in participating districts will likely complete the MAP test to comply with federal requirements, unless districts receive a federal waiver, but their schools will not be scored at the state level based on those results. 

Consequently, the accreditation status of the 20 districts will be paused throughout the three-year pilot program.

Parents should still expect accountability because the districts are responsible for reporting students’ literacy and numeracy scores. Read more here.

Aug. 14, 2023 — ... The schools want to instead take advantage of a new pilot waiver program created last year that offers exemptions for districts to bypass specific education laws for up to three years. These “innovation waivers” are intended to boost student performance and benefit educators by giving schools the room to implement unique strategies. Read more here.

Aug. 14, 2023 — ... “For a number of years now, educators have been asking for a change in the assessment and the accountability designed to empower this kind of thinking,” Fulton said. “It’s exciting that we’re now to the point where we have a group of districts here to be set free to do exactly that." Read more here.

June 14, 2023 — ... A state statute allows a school or a group of schools to apply for a School Innovation Waiver that can last up to three years. The state board plans to vote on the request during its August meeting. The U.S. Department of Education must also grant approval since the MAP test is a federal mandate.

If approved, the work of the Success-Ready Network Demonstration Project would start this fall and continue through the 2025-26 school year, according to a press release. Read more here.

... What these districts are already doing is giving three exams a year and providing students immediate feedback on how they're doing.

... In addition to the multiple tests and real-time feedback, the districts participating in the Success-Ready Students Network want to open a world of opportunities for their high schoolers. Read more here.

June 6, 2023 — “The schools would like to instead use a system that would administer tests multiple times each year and provide data immediately. District leaders say the real-time feedback gives students and teachers actionable information to use to improve. We need new tools,” said Jenny Ulrich, superintendent of the Lonedell School District. “That's what we're asking for. We're asking for the ability to use leading indicators versus lagging indicators. We would like to have data in real time to help drive instructional decisions for our kids.” Read more here.

June 6, 2023 — ... The school districts asking for the waiver are located across the state and vary in size and demographics, including rural, suburban and urban districts and a charter school network. The school agencies asking for this standardized test exemption are Affton, Branson, Center, Confluence Academies, Fayette, Lebanon, Lee’s Summit, Lewis County, Liberty, Lindbergh, Lonedell, Mehlville, Neosho, Ozark, Parkway, Pattonville, Raymore-Peculiar, Ritenour, Ste. Genevieve and Shell Knob. Read more here.

May 17, 2023 — ... “There are all of these amazing skills that students have that they can’t show on a multiple choice test... Not to say any new system would do that perfectly, but we would like a more authentic assessment. In your job, when was the last time you were asked a multiple choice question? Probably never. Then how authentic is that assessment experience in preparing students for life beyond school?” Read more here.