Commissioner Postpones V.I. Smarter Balanced Tests Until Fall

Education Commissioner nominee Racquel Berry-Benjamin testifies before the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development Wednesday. (Photo by Barry Leerdam for the V.I. Legislature)
Commissioner of Education Racquel Berry-Benjamin. (File photo)

The Virgin Islands Department of Education will postpone the administration of School Year 2019-2020 Smarter Balanced Assessments and the Alternative Assessments, which were scheduled for a testing period of March 16 through June 4.

The standardized tests, which track student learning in English language arts and mathematics, will be administered at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Commissioner Racquel Berry-Benjamin made the decision Sunday, March 15, to postpone the online tests, which are annually given to students in grades 3-8 and 11, in an effort to minimize interruption and impact to student scores, should V.I. public schools close during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Access 2.0 standardized tests that are administered to English learners will continue as planned. Students began taking those tests during the week of March 9-13, 2020.