The state’s decision to revamp or overhaul standardized tests for elementary and middle school students has the support of School District U46 CEO Tony Sanders if it means test results will get to school districts more quickly.
Sanders said the PARCC exams, short for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, would be taken by students in the spring and the results not available until the start of the following school year. At least the ISAT exams, which PARCC replaced, would provide preliminary data to school districts at a faster pace, he said.
“By the time you see the results of your students, you no longer have those students,” Sanders said.
The Illinois State Board of Education announced last week that the PARCC exams may get a revamp or overhaul, possibly as soon as next year. The exams have been given to third-through-eighth grade students in the spring since 2015.
The assessments, aligned with the Common Core state standards adopted by dozens of states, have come with controversy since first implemented. PARCC testing require large amounts of time to administer, and are even more complicated if there are an insufficient number of computers or devices available for students to use.
Parents have often complained about the exams, prompting some opt their children out of the tests. School district administrators have been critical about the time it takes to get scores from the state, especially if the delay makes the data irrelevant.
A letter Illinois Superintendent of Education Tony Smith sent to school district superintendents last week outlined what the agency wants out of a new or changed standardized exam. Their objectives include expediting the time it takes for results to get back to the schools, expanding the number of languages the assessments can be taken in and transitioning into a “computer-adaptive” format in which a student’s questions will change depending on their performance on previous questions.
Jackie Matthews, spokeswoman for the state board of education, said some of the changes would be seen as early as next school year pending the board’s request for proposals and the bidding process.
U46 schools would welcome additional language options, Sanders said, noting the district’s large population of English language learning students. He also believed a computer-adaptive format would benefit U46’s younger students, who already take MAP tests, or Measure of Academic Progress, that are similar in format.
“The feel would be more like what we take three times a year in elementary school,” Sanders said. “It could give students to feel a little more comfortable taking (state assessments).”
In St. Charles, School District 303 educators are currently focused on preparing for this spring’s PARCC exams, which will not be affected by any of the proposed changes, district spokeswoman Carol Smith said.
That said, educators and district officials see the state superintendent’s letter and his suggestions as “positive changes,” Smithsaid.
“We have the ability to adjust to any of the changes if they decide to change it in the future,” she said.
Like U46, Smith said the district would welcome a quicker test-taking process. “The sooner we get the data, the better able we are able to see where are our students are in terms of their achievement and growth,” she said.
Last fall, a little more than 28 percent of U46 third- through eighth-grader students met or exceeded standards on the PARCC exams taken in the spring, according to state data; the district’s average was below the state’s average of 34 percent. At Algonquin-based District 300, its average proficiency rate was on par with the state average, at 34 percent. St. Charles students were well above the state average, with about 51 percent meeting or exceeding proficiency, according to state data.
