Parents and Education groups hoping to get standardized testing waived, again
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Education Association and The Colorado Springs Education Association, an organization representing 1,500 public school educators in Colorado Springs School District 11, is asking the state to postpone state testing this year in Colorado.
The Colorado Measures of Academic Success is the exam every spring that tracks students' proficiency in math, science, English, social studies, and arts.
Aside from the stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic, many educators believe they should use the testing time to instruct their students and focus on their mental health.
State Sen. Paul Lundeen of District 9, however, believes students should take the exam in order for the state to track their current status and know what areas to target next.
"Should we be driving a car on an unfamiliar road, blind folded? The reality is we must do tests to understand where we are at, it is challenging where we are, but we need to know where we are on behalf of all the students of Colorado so that we know from where we need to build back to. If we do not test, we will not have a sense of where that is at," said Republican Senator Paul Lundeen.
But, Colorado Education Association President, Amie Baca-Oehlert, believes otherwise.
“The real concern with the CMAS is that most likely we will not get the data back until august and that is just going to be too late to guide any kind of decision making that needs to happen," added Baca-Oehlert.
The Colorado Education Association believes there are greater impacts to students learning environment this year.
"It is not what we would think of in a normal learning year. Our students are certainly impacted by that, they have lots of stress that they are carrying around, many of students have suffered loss in their families, there is just a lot of anxiety there is a lot that has gone into this year for our students and educators," said Baca-Oehlert.
Meanwhile, a decision expected soon from Governor Jared Polis, on the future of state wide standardized testing.
