When I think about why I’ve dedicated my career to advancing and strengthening the ideas and practices of authorizing, I think about the students I’ve met over the years—bright, curious young people who—with the right opportunities—will change the world. Every child deserves the chance to discover their talents, pursue their passions, and achieve their dreams. But opportunity doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because adults make decisions that put students first.
That is why I want to make one thing very clear: annual assessments that measure state standards are foundational to understanding student learning and charter school authorizing.
Why Assessments Matter for Students and Families
Annual statewide assessments are not about labeling children or schools. They are about truth-telling. Without them, we lose our clearest window into whether students—especially those furthest from opportunity—are learning what they need to be successful.
Families depend on clear, timely, comparable data to make informed decisions about their children’s schools. While families weigh many factors, academic achievement is a top consideration. So, when states weaken or propose eliminating assessment and accountability systems, they take away an important tool families have to advocate for their children.
Why Assessments Matter for Charter Schools and Authorizing
State assessment data have consistently shown that charter schooling excels in helping students who are behind catch up, demonstrating what’s possible for all students. Asking authorizers to make high-stakes decisions—like new schools; performance expectations; school performance; and expansion, renewal, and closure without student outcome data from assessments—risks that such decisions will be made on opinion, conjecture, and politics. Authorizers should not be asked to do their jobs without valid, reliable, and comparable assessment data.
As we noted in our recent letter on this issue in Oklahoma, “Without valid, reliable, comparable assessment data or annual transparent accountability reporting, charter school authorizers’ ability to do their work is severely restricted.” Simply put: without assessment data, authorizers cannot ensure that schools are high quality, that families have trustworthy information, or that all students are held to rigorous statewide standards.
A strong, innovative, and sustainable charter school sector depends on accurate, reliable, and comparable assessments and transparent accountability reporting.
How We Must Respond
The stakes are too high for authorizers—and anyone committed to student success—to remain silent. As states consider weakening or eliminating assessments, it’s important to raise your voices. Submit comments. Speak to lawmakers. Partner with families and communities to explain why assessments matter and offer ideas on improving assessments. And NACSA will stand with you—providing resources and tools to help you make the case.
Together, we must advance what we know works–clear, consistent measures of student learning that drive equity, improvement, and accountability—and advocate for even better. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about policy debates. It’s about whether all students—kids with names, faces, and dreams—get the education they need and deserve.
