Despite question marks raised in August, Oklahoma students will take standardized tests at the end of the school year.
There had been doubt following a proclamation by former State Superintendent Ryan Walters that his replacement, Lindel Fields, has now debunked.
As the school year started, Walters told teachers and students that they would no longer need to worry about high-stakes end-of-year testing. However, it was unclear how he could pull that off without federal intervention, as the tests are required by state law and the Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal law.
A federal official told StateImpact in August that the state was requesting a federal waiver to expand the use of other assessments, including the conservative-backed Classical Learning Test. But the official said the request from Walters was "in no way approved."
But it does appear Fields is keeping the conversation alive for future years. In a letter to parents, Fields writes that end-of-year testing needs to change.
"Meaningful change takes time," Fields wrote. "There will not be any changes to the testing process this year. We are in discussions with the U.S. Department of Education and in the upcoming weeks, we will begin to explore innovative assessment options for future years."
This is another clarification in a string of them, as Fields undoes Walters' actions, such as mandating classroom Bibles, participating in lawsuits and giving out-of-state teachers an ideology test that was impossible to fail.
Walters resigned at the end of September and was replaced by Fields days later.
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