Dist. 93 won't boycott state tests after all
A DuPage school district has backed off a threat to boycott state tests this spring for students who are still learning English.
Carol Stream Elementary District 93 had planned to protest the state's decision to scrap an alternative test designed for English learners.
District 93 officials had said they were willing to break the law -- which requires districts to test all students in selected grades -- to shield these students from the frustration and humiliation of struggling over the regular grade-level exams.
But the district changed course this week, after the state clarified that teachers could promptly end the assessment if a student made an attempt to take the test and could not answer or complete the questions.
"It is important that the state board found a way to address the well-being of children in testing situations," District 93 Superintendent Hank Gmitro said in a statement.
Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matthew Vanover confirmed that the state contacted district officials this month and impressed upon them the possible consequences of not testing certain students.
The state discontinued the test this fall because the federal government ruled it did not adequately measure students' mastery of Illinois learning standards. The old test was written in simpler English.
As a stop-gap measure, English learners will take standard assessments with some special accommodations, such as extended time and audio recordings, while the state develops a test that will meet federal guidelines.
Politicians and educators throughout Illinois have aggressively opposed the move, predicting it will cause districts to fail and face serious sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
District 93 would have been the first in Illinois -- and perhaps the nation -- to mount this type of challenge to the law.
Gmitro urged the federal government to find a fairer way to test whether English learners, and also special education students, are learning what schools are supposed to teach.