18 Newton’s second law of motion states that when force is applied to an object at rest, the rate of change is directly proportional to the force applied. There is little doubt that tremendous force has been applied to education recently, including assessment and accountability systems. First, COVID-19 prompted rapid shifts to distributed learning, suspension of state assessments, and waivers for school accountability. Then the collective anguish over George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis led to a sense of urgency for advancing equity in all institutions, including education. Already under fire before spring 2020, the dominance of federally mandated test-based accountability in American education had led many educators and policymakers to decry the system as largely out of balance and to suggest that this imbalance has stifled productive local efforts toward meaningful, lasting improvements in student learning. It is not too early to conclude that all these cumulative factors will—and should—change assessment and accountability systems. But what kind of change is appropriate, and how can state boards of education support such changes? Time to steer systems toward better balance and coherence.
24 Writing is a cornerstone in the K-12 experience. Students write to demonstrate, support, and deepen understanding of themselves, their relationships, and their world—and to succeed on achievement tests in all subjects. Writing proficiency sets students up for postsecondary success and workforce participation.1 It facilitates their social and civic activities and can reduce psychological and physical distress.2 Yet roughly three-quarters of U.S. students do not write proficiently, a finding that has persisted over two decades.3 Thus it is no surprise that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), adopted by most states in 2010, sought to elevate the importance of writing instruction in schools and the expectations for student writing performance. But did the new standards alter the facts on the ground? Can they?
