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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Over the past several months, the Illinois State
3Board of Education has heard from superintendents, building
4principals, classroom teachers, parents, and students
5regarding their thoughts and concerns on federally required
6assessments for the 2020-2021 school year; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Because so many of our students have been
8separated from their school since March 2020, bringing
9students back in-person only to immediately begin state
10testing will have a detrimental effect on the goals of
11supporting their social and emotional well-being, mental
12health, and reconnection with the school community; while 77
13percent of our 852 school districts are offering some
14in-person instruction, data show that more than a million
15students are still learning in fully remote environments;
16fewer than 200 Illinois school districts serving less than
17200,000 students are currently able to provide fully in-person
18instruction to all students; Illinois students need their
19school and district administrators focused on resuming
20in-person instruction for the purposes of providing
21trauma-informed supports, increasing the quality of
22instruction, and rebuilding relationships between students and
23teachers; the administration of state assessments would take
24away from these critical endeavors that are foundational to

 

 

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1the recovery of our educational systems; and
 
2    WHEREAS, After hearing the concerns of district and school
3leaders, teachers, families, and students, ISBE delayed its
4testing windows in order to provide as much flexibility for
5administration under socially distanced conditions; currently,
6and in addition to supporting the academic, social, and
7emotional needs of students, districts are utilizing time and
8resources to ensure transportation and safe logistics for
9testing; this time could be better spent coordinating
10vaccination administration for educators and the larger
11community and providing necessary supports for students; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Without a clear signal that the Department of
13Education will permit an assessment waiver, districts will
14continue to plan for the administration of assessments; this
15is not the optimal use of their time or resources; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Illinois educators understand and believe in the
17importance of assessment results, but the likely variability
18in participation across the State will limit the comparability
19and usefulness of the data at both the individual student and
20student group levels; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The potential yet diminished benefits of using
22incomplete state assessment data as a means of understanding

 

 

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1the scope of learning loss that may have occurred as a result
2of the pandemic do not outweigh the significant burden that
3the administration of state assessments would incur on our
4students, families, teachers, and administrators; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Assessment, the practice of collecting evidence
6about student learning to provide students with feedback and
7to inform supports and instructional design, is still
8critically important to helping students recover from the
9pandemic; schools, districts, and teachers can and should
10continue to conduct formative assessments at the local levels
11to understand the impact of the pandemic on student learning
12and provide holistic and individualized supports; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Accountability is an effective means of
14identifying schools and students in the greatest need of
15assistance; a second year without state assessments will
16impact longitudinal data and accountability systems; however,
17ISBE has the ability to continue to provide support to the
18highest need schools and students and to leverage local data
19sources to evaluate its progress; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the U.S.
22Department of Education, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the
23Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, to

 

 

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1offer states the option to waive the following assessment and
2concomitant accountability and reporting requirements;
3specifically the U.S. Department of Education should release
4an expedited waiver application for:
5        (1) Assessment requirements in section 1111(b)(2)
6    covering all required assessments in school year
7    2020-2021;
8        (2) The requirement that a state annually meaningfully
9    differentiate all public school and to identify schools
10    for comprehensive and targeted support and improvement, as
11    required in sections 1111(c)(4) and 1111(d)(2)(C)-(D); and
12        (3) Those report card provisions related to
13    assessments and accountability in section 1111(h) that
14    would be based on data from the 2020-2021 school year; and
15    be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we believe that it is in the best interest
17of students and educators for the U.S. Department of Education
18to release an expedited waiver of assessment and
19accountability requirements for the 2020-2021 school year.