Section 401.145  Administration of State Assessment

An SBE approved facility that is located in Illinois may serve as a testing site for the State assessments required pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of the School Code in accordance with the provisions of this Section.  For purposes of this Section, a "testing site" is a facility at which responsible staff is permitted to order and receive test materials directly from the testing contractor according to the contractor's arrangement with the State Board of Education.  A provider seeking designation of a facility as a testing site under this Section shall follow the specific communication procedures established by the State Superintendent for making the request, supplying the necessary information, and receiving the designation, as applicable to the examinations to be administered.  The provider and responsible staff shall abide by all technical specifications established by the State Superintendent and test contractors to implement the requirements set forth at 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1.30 (State Assessment).

a)         Required Conditions

If a provider operating an Illinois facility under this Part wishes to have the facility serve as a testing site for one or more State assessments, certain required conditions shall exist at the facility that will ensure the security and confidentiality of test materials and the validity of the resulting scores.  The specifics of these requirements will vary according to which of the State assessments will be involved.

1)         Locked facilities and storage for secure test materials shall exist, and access to these shall be limited to authorized individuals.

2)         An adequate amount of space shall exist for the number of examinees, and each shall have an appropriate space in which to work.  The facility shall provide an environment that will meet technical requirements for particular types of test administration, including accommodations for students with disabilities or English Language Learners.

3)         The facility shall afford lighting, temperature and quiet such that the test environment will be free from interruptions and distractions.

b)         Required Personnel Assignments and Qualifications

1)         Each individual appointed to a role under this subsection (b) shall be an employee of the provider or facility.  No volunteers or parents may serve in these positions.

2)         The provider or chief administrator shall designate a testing coordinator for each assessment to be administered at a facility.  An individual may serve as coordinator for more than one of the assessments.  The responsibilities of the testing coordinator shall include the following:

A)        Ordering, distributing, collecting and returning test materials;

B)        Training test administrators and proctors regarding their responsibilities;

C)        Arranging for the accommodations called for in the students' IEPs;

D)        Ensuring that neither test security nor the purpose of testing is compromised by any accommodations afforded to students; and

E)        Overall monitoring of testing activities to ensure that required procedures are followed.

3)         The assessment may be administered only by the following individuals:

A)        Administrators holding educator licensure appropriate to their positions (e.g., assistant principals, principals or chief administrators);

B)        Teachers holding licenses/certificates with endorsements appropriate to their positions (including holders of substitute teaching licenses/certificates and educator licenses with stipulations for provisional educator) and employed by the provider as teachers at the facility;

C)        School psychologists, school social workers and school counselors holding educator licensure appropriate to their positions and employed by the provider at the facility in their respective professional capacities; and

D)        Paraprofessional educators, provided that constant, line-of-sight supervision by a licensed/certified teacher employed by the provider as a teacher at the facility shall be required (including supervision for individuals employed as paraprofessional educators who are also licensed/certified teachers).

c)         Required Procedures

Following the assessment requirements allowed by 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1.30 (State Assessment) and using the materials provided, the responsible individual at each testing site shall communicate with the testing contractors for the examinations to be administered at that site.  The State Superintendent shall furnish to staff at each testing site the same technical guidance as is provided to the public schools regarding details of the test administration, and responsible staff at each testing site shall ensure that these technical specifications are followed, including, but not limited to the following:

1)         The dates established as the testing window;

2)         The handling of test documents and other secure materials;

3)         Permissible and impermissible objects in the testing environment;

4)         Permissible and impermissible behavior on the part of test-takers;

5)         Required, permissible and impermissible actions on the part of staff at the testing site.

d)         The public school district that has placed a student with a disability into a program approved under this Part remains responsible for determining, in accordance with the student's IEP, where the student will take the appropriate State assessment and whether the test materials for that student are to be ordered and handled by district or facility personnel, even if the facility where the student is placed serves as a testing site for that assessment.

e)         No State assessment shall be administered to any student who is not required to participate in the State assessment pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of the School Code and 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1 (see Sections 1.30 and 1.50 (Calculation of Participation Rate)).

f)         Any breach of test security or other testing irregularity shall be reported to the State Superintendent in accordance with instructions applicable to particular types of problems, using one of the methods identified by the State Superintendent.  Responsible staff at the affected facility shall then follow the instructions provided by the State Superintendent or the relevant test contractor regarding the next steps to be taken in investigating the source of the problem, its implications, and its potential resolution.

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 6471, effective March 21, 2018)