Delaware directs education officials to review SAT use in school ratings

The resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education to review the SAT’s role in measuring high school achievement and explore other measures. The review concerns how Delaware uses the SAT to measure academic achievement when judging high school performance. The Department is directed to continue offering the SAT during the school day for students who choose it for college access, scholarships, and planning after high school.

The resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education to involve educators in designing how the state judges school performance. The process includes teachers and other educators from traditional school districts, vocational-technical districts, and charter schools. Participation is to represent different parts of Delaware and help educators learn while sharing how testing affects classroom teaching.

The resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education to explore and include more measures allowed by federal law and recommend a coordinated high school testing system. The state is directed to develop a framework recognizing career credentials, college credits earned during high school, and workplace learning as signs of achievement and readiness. Delaware is to keep a clear, comparable statewide academic measure that meets federal requirements. Recommendations are to distinguish required academic measures from other signs of student readiness, engagement, and school quality, while seeking earlier information teachers can use.