Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter



CAT Tracks for August 15, 2006
ISAT...AND WAITED...AGAIN

From the Southern Illinoisan...


State achievement tests delayed, board of education says

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO - Schools probably won't get complete results from state standardized tests _ designed to help assess year-to-year progress _ until after classes start, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

"There is a delay" getting this year's Illinois Standards Achievement Test results to schools, board spokeswoman Meta Minton said Monday.

"We hope to have them out soon. But we don't want to promise a date, and (then) be off," she said.

The ISATs are given to third- through eighth-graders to help determine whether schools are meeting requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which carries sanctions for low-performing schools.

The test results help schools develop or change curriculum.

Schools have preliminary data, enabling them to do some analysis, but they don't have the details many rely on to fully assess their performance, Minton said. A state board of education official sent an e-mail to school administrators Friday saying "it is very unlikely" they would receive complete results by the start of the school year, Minton said.

In explaining the delay, Minton cited Harcourt Assessment Inc., a San Antonio-based company stripped this year of its duties in administering the ISATs. It forced many districts to delay testing after it sent the wrong materials or delivered tests late.

In light of the problems with Harcourt, whose only remaining duty is developing the ISAT's layout and design, Minton said state education officials are "taking the extra pains and steps in the quality assurance process to make extra sure everything is absolutely correct" with respect to the results.

Some local school officials have expressed concern about the delay.

"I think the biggest concern is simply the fact that schools don't know where they stand, and there's so many implications to that," said Kathy Wallig, public relations coordinator for schools in Urbana.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools found to fall short of standards must take certain measures - including, in some cases, offering special educational services - until they can make adequate progress for two straight years.