SR0166 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0166 LRB102 17674 LAW 23581 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Over the past several months, the Illinois State Board of Education has heard from superintendents, building principals, classroom teachers, parents, and students regarding their thoughts and concerns on federally required assessments for the 2020-2021 school year; and

WHEREAS, Because so many of our students have been separated from their school since March 2020, bringing students back in-person only to immediately begin state testing will have a detrimental effect on the goals of supporting their social and emotional well-being, mental health, and reconnection with the school community; while 77 percent of our 852 school districts are offering some in-person instruction, data show that more than a million students are still learning in fully remote environments; fewer than 200 Illinois school districts serving less than 200,000 students are currently able to provide fully in-person instruction to all students; Illinois students need their school and district administrators focused on resuming in-person instruction for the purposes of providing trauma-informed supports, increasing the quality of instruction, and rebuilding relationships between students and teachers; the administration of state assessments would take away from these critical endeavors that are foundational to the recovery of our educational systems; and

WHEREAS, After hearing the concerns of district and school leaders, teachers, families, and students, ISBE delayed its testing windows in order to provide as much flexibility for administration under socially distanced conditions; currently, and in addition to supporting the academic, social, and emotional needs of students, districts are utilizing time and resources to ensure transportation and safe logistics for testing; this time could be better spent coordinating vaccination administration for educators and the larger community and providing necessary supports for students; and

WHEREAS, Without a clear signal that the Department of Education will permit an assessment waiver, districts will continue to plan for the administration of assessments; this is not the optimal use of their time or resources; and

WHEREAS, Illinois educators understand and believe in the importance of assessment results, but the likely variability in participation across the State will limit the comparability and usefulness of the data at both the individual student and student group levels; and

WHEREAS, The potential yet diminished benefits of using incomplete state assessment data as a means of understanding the scope of learning loss that may have occurred as a result of the pandemic do not outweigh the significant burden that the administration of state assessments would incur on our students, families, teachers, and administrators; and

WHEREAS, Assessment, the practice of collecting evidence about student learning to provide students with feedback and to inform supports and instructional design, is still critically important to helping students recover from the pandemic; schools, districts, and teachers can and should continue to conduct formative assessments at the local levels to understand the impact of the pandemic on student learning and provide holistic and individualized supports; and

WHEREAS, Accountability is an effective means of identifying schools and students in the greatest need of assistance; a second year without state assessments will impact longitudinal data and accountability systems; however, ISBE has the ability to continue to provide support to the highest need schools and students and to leverage local data sources to evaluate its progress; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the U.S. Department of Education, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, to offer states the option to waive the following assessment and concomitant accountability and reporting requirements; specifically the U.S. Department of Education should release an expedited waiver application for:

(1) Assessment requirements in section 1111(b)(2) covering all required assessments in school year 2020-2021;

(2) The requirement that a state annually meaningfully differentiate all public school and to identify schools for comprehensive and targeted support and improvement, as required in sections 1111(c)(4) and 1111(d)(2)(C)-(D); and

(3) Those report card provisions related to assessments and accountability in section 1111(h) that would be based on data from the 2020-2021 school year; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we believe that it is in the best interest of students and educators for the U.S. Department of Education to release an expedited waiver of assessment and accountability requirements for the 2020-2021 school year.