Grading system change is key
State officials confirmed Friday they will change the way high-stakes tests for high school students are graded.
It's the latest in a string of adjustments -- some large, some small -- to tests that are supposed to provide a steady gauge of the progress Illinois schools and districts make every year.
Many of the changes have rendered year-to-year comparisons virtually meaningless.
During the 2005-06 school year, for example, the state slashed the score necessary to pass the eighth-grade math exam. Passing rates across the state soared. And elementary schools across the state shed sanctions imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind law.
State officials say the latest adjustment won't have that effect.
"You're not going to be 100 percent," said Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matt Vanover. "But the scores will be comparable year-to-year."
The federal government periodically reviews all tests to assure they properly measure state learning standards, according to federal officials.
The U.S. Department of Education required Illinois to change the way the 11th-grade test is scored, just as the agency required the state to drop the test for students still learning English this year.
The new scoring system for the high school test will remedy the problem and change how certain questions are weighted, state officials said.
In the past, the state gave equal weight to the first and second day of the test, even though there were more questions on the first day. Now, every question will be weighed equally, state officials said.
Juniors take the ACT college entrance exam on the first day of testing and the ACT Work Keys assessment on the second day. The Work Keys assessment is designed to measure work-force skills.
A vocal group of high school officials long have complained about the ACT scoring system, which they say never was fully disclosed to them.
The chorus got louder last year as 11th-grade reading scores dipped by 4 percentage points statewide.
In addition, 328 high schools -- 100 more than in 2006 -- failed to meet state standards.
The drop came primarily on the second day of the test, which now will carry less weight under the new scoring system.