Dist. 211 drops exam requirement

Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 has suspended a rule that seniors who failed the Prairie State Achievement Exam as juniors have to take final exams this spring.

The policy -- adopted to encourage students to take the Prairie State exam seriously -- meant those who failed couldn't receive their diplomas at graduation and had to return to school later to take finals.

The school board will revisit the policy annually. Board member Bill Lloyd wants to investigate why certain disadvantaged groups do poorly on the exam before the rule is revisited.

Superintendent Roger Thornton said he supports the goal of the state standardized tests -- to measure a student's academic achievement -- but criticized how they're scored, calling the method "bogus."

Thornton noted many students score well on ACT college entrance exams but still fail the Prairie State. He said he wants to give the state a chance to fix what he said is a problem.

"If they don't align the scores properly, then the onus is on us," he said.

More than 300 students signed a petition opposing the policy that was submitted to the school board last month. They said the requirement would tarnish their graduation memories because they'd receive their diplomas later in the mail. There were also concerns that students weren't properly notified of the consequences of failing the test.

The Prairie State exam counts toward the federal No Child Left Behind requirement. It's a two-day test required for all juniors and includes the college-entrance ACT.

Previous senior classes could choose to take the final exam or simply accept a final grade without taking the test. Northwest Suburban Township District 214 does not have such a policy, spokeswoman Venetia Miles said.

Conant High School senior Samantha Mikos told the board last month that the policy wasn't fair and on Thursday she sat happily listening to the board's vote.

"I don't think that the board was expecting any students to stand up and speak about how it has affected us," she said via e-mail.

Thornton has been a consistent critic of the Prairie State exam, even bringing his concerns to the state board of education. The District 211 board on Thursday agreed to send another letter to the state outlining its concerns.

Seniors still have to meet other criteria to be exempted from finals, like having at least a C average and missing class fewer than seven times.

Last spring, only about 30 percent of seniors had to take finals.