State Board of Education wants to know what educators and parents think about state assessments
Feedback will guide improvements to make assessments more useful, inclusive, equitable, and balanced
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) wants to know what educators, parents, and other stakeholders think about state assessments. ISBE launched a survey today to gather feedback on state and federally required student assessments – from the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey administered at the beginning of kindergarten to the SAT administered at the end of 11th grade.
The feedback will help ISBE prioritize short-term improvements and long-term enhancements to the state assessment system. ISBE has identified equity, inclusivity, usefulness, and balance as the central values defining its vision for state assessments.
“I began my tenure as State Superintendent with a commitment to improving Illinois’ state assessments based on feedback from the field,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. “As a former teacher and district administrator, I know the importance of high-quality assessments that help us understand students’ mastery of the learning standards and tailor instruction to meet students’ needs. I look forward to gathering input from educators and parents across the state and to building on the strengths in our current assessment system.”
The survey is available now at www.isbe.net/assessmentfeedback. An independent consultant is conducting the survey to ensure confidentiality. All survey responses will be de-identified before they are shared with ISBE. Survey responses are due by Dec. 6.
ISBE has committed to implementing any improvements thoughtfully over time and to maintaining comparability to current assessments. Comparability will allow families and educators to continue to see student growth from year to year and school/district longitudinal results.
ISBE will present a Request for Sealed Proposals, guided by the feedback from the field, to the State Board in December for action in January.
Almost all of Illinois’ state assessments will remain the same in spring 2020 as in spring 2019, apart from the Illinois Science Assessment. It will have a new blueprint in spring 2020 that measures the full range of the Illinois Learning Standards for science, in response to guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.