State Test Results Are Too D*** Slow… Virginia Leads the Push for Speed
For the last couple years we’ve been banging the drum on the need for states to process their test results much faster in order to provide timely information to parents and educators.
Did you know states have actually gotten worse over time?
The chart below compares the timing of when states released their school-level results from the spring of 2006 versus the spring of 2024.* Each dot represents one state. As you can see in the chart, states were noticeably slower to process their results in 2024 than they were back in 2006.
There’s no good reason for this. Back in 2006, the states were processing the results of their paper-and-pencil tests and making formal, high-stakes accountability determinations (called Adequate Yearly Progress). And they did all that in less time than states did in 2024, when states had access to digital testing results, and they were identifying many fewer schools for poor performance.
I don’t want to dwell on the laggards too much here, although in recent years New Jersey, Maine, and Vermont have consistently been among the slowest to release their results.
On the happier side, states like Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and Georgia have regularly been among the faster states. In 2024, for example, they were the only six states to release their public results before the end of July.
Of course, speed is only one aspect, and state assessment should also provide an honest evaluation of student performance. In addition to long time lags, many state assessment systems suffer from an honesty gap. These two values should not be in tension.
But I’m focused on speed here, and I do want to highlight a few promising signs. The first is Kansas, which provided provisional results back to districts in mid-May last year, with results shared with parents a week later. I know of other states offering this type of provisional data releases for parents and educators earlier than their formal public releases, but it’s not everywhere yet, and I hope this becomes the industry standard.
Speaking of which, Ohio passed legislation in 2023 requiring the state to share results no later than June 30th of each year. Similarly, New Mexico is working on legislation that would require the state department of education to publish results no later than September 1st of each year in an “easily accessible and user-friendly format.” I’d prefer that to be a bit earlier, but at least New Mexico realizes that speed matters.
These are all good steps, but Virginia is about to leapfrog them all. In legislation passed earlier this spring that’s now awaiting the governor’s signature, Virginia would provide assessment results to the public and to students and parents within 45 days after the assessment window closes.** The legislation includes exceptions for years when the state is revising its standards or assessments, but it would set a precedent and push state tests to more closely match their private-sector peers.
In other words, the states collectively have become too d*** slow at processing and releasing their spring test results. It’s ridiculous that they were slower in 2024 than they were back in 2006. States can do better, but that requires someone in the state to demand it.
Virginia is about to become the national leader in this, setting the bar at just 45 days. Which state leader will be next to try to match or exceed them?
*Lest anyone think I’m cherrypicking years here, I helped collect the 2006 results as a graduate research assistant for William and Mary professor Paul Manna. Manna published the 2006 results as Figure 1-2 in this chapter, and I started collecting similar data for the 2022 testing cycle.
** The Virginia testing bill includes a couple other promising elements as well. Notably, it would require the state tests to be administered in the last 2 weeks of school, which would give students more time to learn content and also reduce the amount of end-of-year downtime after the testing period ends. Virginia also has a series of end-of-course tests given to middle and high schoolers. The new bill would require that those tests count for at least 10% of the student’s final course grade, which would make the tests more meaningful and provide a check against lax grading standards.