Change errant decision on school tests
Sometimes, it seems, decisions made by state or federal agencies overseeing education just don't seem to have been thought out very well. Ironic, isn't it?
Such is the case with a new wrinkle facing Illinois schools. As Daily Herald staff writer Emily Krone reports today, Illinois students who are still learning English will be required to take the same tests as English-speaking students.
What's the problem with that, you ask? Shouldn't all students be tested the same? In theory, that sounds good. But not in reality. And when those tests are used to measure how well schools are faring with federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, it makes even less sense.
"I believe in high expectations and I believe in accountability," said Becky McTague, a bilingual education specialist at Roosevelt University. "But this is like saying, 'You're going to take a test in Portuguese, and this is going to determine whether you pass or fail.'"
We agree with McTague. And it seems there may be a way to change this errant decision by the Illinois State Board of Education. State board authorities say they believe they were required by the federal government to make this decision, but a federal spokesman told Krone that Illinois was not "forced" to drop the test.
"The Education Department did not force the state to drop the test -- it was a recognition on Illinois' part that the test as presently constituted did not meet the requirements of the law," U.S. Department of Education spokesman Jim Bradshaw said.
At issue was the validity, in the federal government's eyes, of the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English, or IMAGE, test, which had been administered to those learning English in all grades in which the Illinois State Assessment Test or the Prairie State Achievement Exam was required. The U.S. Department of Education ruled in October that the IMAGE test was not a valid measure of students' reading abilities, after Illinois already had made attempts to tweak the test to meet requirements.
"We ran out of time and we were told that by taking the action we are taking, it would bring us into compliance with federal law," Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matthew Vanover said. But local school officials want the ISBE to take advantage of the wiggle room that the federal government seems to be offering, even if the test this year isn't considered valid.
"If the state of Illinois has any option, then I think we ought to continue with the IMAGE test until something better is found," said Roger Thornton, superintendent of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211.
Why would Thornton or any other superintendent want to keep a test not considered valid? Because it's been offered for years and he believes his students, who did well on the IMAGE test, will not do well on the ACT, which is part of the Prairie State tests given to high school students, if not written in simpler English. And if they don't do well and a school or district is labeled as failing by not meeting federal standards, then they could face sanctions such as requiring tutoring, allowing school choice or replacing large portions of the staff.
That could all be avoided if federal and state education leaders come up with a better solution for this year and then resolve it completely for years to come.