Illinois students won’t take state assessment tests this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put much of the past several weeks on hold for Act of God days, and testing was just one more expectation that was taken off the list of mandates for Illinois schools.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspended state assessments by executive order. Testing was to be the week of March 30 through April 3. The spring tests including the Constitution exam, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, Illinois Science Assessment, SAT, and Dynamic Learning Maps-Alternate Assessment for the 2019-2020 school year.
The change means Homewood District 153 can add five testing days back to its teaching calendar to meet the state’s mandate of 176 days in the classroom.
It also may give the district the ability to end school a few days earlier than planned. Currently, the last day is June 5. Graduation for eighth graders is set for June 2.
“We’re in a good position with attendance days,” Superintendent Dale Mitchell said. “We haven’t had to take any emergency days (set aside for bad weather).”
Schools are currently doing e-learning through April 30. Pritzker said he will re-examine the school calendar closer to the end of April. Several states have closed schools for the remainder of the year.
Flossmoor District 161 Superintendent Dana Smith said students are doing remote learning, “so nothing really changes on the instructional side. We really focus on the Illinois State Learning Standards and that’s our commitment. We don’t prepare for a test, we don’t teach to a test, we just teach the standards.”
At Homewood-Flossmoor High School, no assessment exams nor the SAT for juniors are being given.
The governor’s office reported: “ISBE recognizes that the free SAT provided by the state is the only opportunity many students get to take a college entrance exam. ISBE is working with The College Board on developing options to allow current 11th grade students to take the SAT in the fall.”
Jodi Bryant, director of public relations at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, said the annual State Report Card will be missing pieces of data because of the test scores not being available.
“Schools will be held harmless and will remain at their current designations,” she said.
Students in Advanced Placement classes take exams that give them a chance to place out of college coursework. Bryant said the exams are administered by The College Board which is trying to coordinate online essay exams in May. The tests will cover the curriculum delivered before school closures, she said.
International Baccalaureate students are not taking exams. “They are using the progress monitoring systems already in place to assess students,” Bryant explained.