Thread: IL:State making Eng learners take same std test

My search function isn't working. I'll take this article out if it has been posted.

Illinois will be testing all students in English now for the state tests. I can't even imagine what that will mean for us and the No Child Left Behind Act penalties if we don't meet their requirements. My district is 71% hispanic and 30.5% are Limited English Proficient. However, at the kindergarten center it is 66.1% Limited English Proficient -the future of our district???

So my district is going to totally bomb the state tests this year? I'll be watching this.


State making English learners take same standardized tests as pros
By Emily Krone | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 12/10/2007 12:21 AM

Students new to English will take the same state tests as their English-speaking peers this year.

The switch, ordered by the Illinois State Board of Education, could sink test scores across the suburbs.

And, like other recent overhauls of the state assessment system, it will make comparisons between future and prior years' test scores invalid.

All third- through eighth-graders, no matter how new to English, now must take the Illinois State Assessment Test this spring; and all high school juniors must take the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which includes the ACT.

In the past, English learners took the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English test, written in simpler English.

The decision to drop the IMAGE test has rankled local educators, who say non-native speakers will struggle unfairly to meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

"I believe in high expectations, and I believe in accountability," said Becky McTague, who specializes in bilingual education at Roosevelt University. "But this is like saying, 'You're going to take a test in Portuguese, and this is going to determine whether you pass or fail.' "

Under the federal law, entire schools and districts can be labeled failing if their English language learners don't meet standards, even if all other groups of students make the grade.

Failing schools and districts face both state and federal sanctions, which run the gamut from having to offer tutoring and school choice to replacing large portions of the staff.

The elimination of the IMAGE test could "impact school districts and communities they serve financially, socially and emotionally," a position paper from the DuPage Regional Office of Education said.

"We are very concerned," said Roger Thornton, superintendent of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211.

About 4 percent of the district's 12,753 students were classified as English learners in the 2006-07 school year.

"Our students did well on the IMAGE," Thornton said. But without significant accommodations for their language deficiencies, he predicted that "most of them will not do well on the ACT."

State officials say they were obligated to scrap the test after U.S. Department of Education officials made a final ruling in October that it was not a valid measure of students' reading abilities.

Indeed, the test was created as a language proficiency test, and not as a measure of math or reading competency.

After initially approving the IMAGE test as a valid gauge of math and reading skills, the U.S. Department of Education told Illinois in 2006 that the assessment system did not meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law.

Subsequent attempts to tweak the test to meet federal requirements were unsuccessful.

"We ran out of time, and we were told that by taking the action we are taking, it would bring us into compliance with federal law," Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matthew Vanover said.

The state plans to develop a new test for English learners that will meet federal guidelines. Meanwhile, they plan to offer English learners some -- yet unspecified -- accommodations, such as extended time to take the test.

School officials charge the state dragged its feet for too long, leaving English learners in the lurch this year.

And they say there may be no appropriate accommodations because the tests were not designed with English learners in mind.

"We're now 12 weeks away, and we have no guidance on how this test will be given," said Cynthia Latimer, assistant superintendent for student services at West Aurora Unit District 129.

"It's just very frustrating, as an educator, that we would be putting students in a position like that," Latimer said.

Some local educators have called on state officials to offer the IMAGE test for one more year, particularly since the state might have had some latitude in determining whether to drop the test.

"The Education Department did not 'force' the state to drop the test -- it was a recognition on Illinois' part that the test as presently constituted did not meet the requirements of the law," U.S. Department of Education spokesman Jim Bradshaw said.

Local officials said they were led to believe otherwise.

"It was my understanding that the state had the choice to administer the ISAT and PSAE or lose all federal Title I funds," Latimer said.

Vanover, the state spokesman, acknowledged the federal government never specifically threatened to withhold Title I funds, which can be worth millions for schools with high concentrations of low-income students.

But, he added, the state could not violate federal law by continuing to offer an invalid test.

School officials said the state should take advantage of any wiggle room available.

"We believed, based on what we were told, that this was a federal decision," Thornton said. "If the state of Illinois has any option, then I think we ought to continue with the IMAGE test until something better is found. This is not a good step for our students."

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=92375

Special education students have to take the same test as mainstream students and I don't hear them whining.

What happens to states when they choose bi-lingual education over "immersion" is exemplified in California. Years ago we ranked high in student achievement, had some of the best schools in the country. Today we're ranked near the bottom. Why? The invasion and the bi-lingual failure. Kids are not the real issue. The issue is dollars. The more illegals the more money the schools get. Teaching assistants who speak spanish and all the other "frills" that go along with this concept. If you want to know how ALL schools will look in the next few years just look at California. It is an embaracing disgrace.