ED Approves One-Year Waiver For Pennsylvania On Grading Elementary And Middle Schools.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (9/9, Boccella) reports that due to a waiver requested by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and approved by the US Department of Education, “elementary and middle schools in Pennsylvania will not get School Performance Profiles – or numerical grades for achievement – this year,” although high schools will. Rivera said, “This year’s PSSA scores establish the new baseline from which we can most effectively measure student progress in future years.” He argued therefore that it would not make sense to compare scores on the new test with previous years.         Thirty-Eight States Have Waivers, And 25 Have Taken Accountability Pause. Education Week (9/9, Klein) reports that with the approval of Pennsylvania’s request, 38 states have had waivers approved. Twenty-five states including Pennsylvania have made use of the “accountability ‘pause’ offered by” ED. Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas are waiting to hear on their pending applications.