By Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer
With schools being closed for much of the last year (even though they may have offered remote learning), we all know a lot of students have fallen behind academically. However, what is not clear is exactly how far behind our kids have fallen and in what areas.
The consequences of not knowing could be especially dire for the children in this generation.
We don’t know how much access to remote instruction school-aged children received during the spring and fall of 2020. There is little reason to believe that virtual learning environments were effective for primary school–aged children. The only way to know the extent of harm done to student learning from school closures is to test our students and find out.
But school boards across the state are passing resolutions, sending emails to legislators, and embarking on a path to oppose conducting the Colorado Measures of Academic Success test. This test, required by law, measures student educational growth. It’s a test that didn’t happen last year, and if school superintendents and school districts have their way, it won’t happen this year either.