Media mention: Jones questions President Biden's decision to require standardized testing
In a guest column for the AJC, Stephanie Jones, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, claims President Joe Biden is wrong to compel states to give standardized tests this year as required by federal education law.
Several states, including Georgia, sought waivers that would allow them to forgo tests this year due to school disruptions from COVID-19. According to Jones, Biden’s decision to mandate testing in 2021 indicates a significant failure on his administration’s part to see how standardized testing fits in with their claimed progressive values and policy stances.
“And then with a single high-stakes decision—to mandate that states give standardized tests in 2021 during the multilayered crises this country is in—he has sucker-punched every educator and student who dared to let down their guard in hope that better times were coming,” she said.