SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — New testing benchmarks for Illinois high schools are prompting concern and confusion.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the state is taking the unusual step of using scores from the SAT college entrance exam to judge whether students and high schools are meeting state standards in reading, writing and math.
The tests will be administered to all public school juniors in the spring. The state plans to use those scores to measure how students are performing, as is required by federal law.
However, the minimum score to meet the state’s standards will be higher than the SAT’s college-readiness scores. That’s causing controversy because it means that a student could be considered ready for college by the SAT’s standards, yet fall short of Illinois standards.
“This discrepancy is going to be very difficult for us to explain to our parents, teachers and especially our students. How can a student be simultaneously college-ready and not have made the cut?” said Kevin O’Mara, a former high school superintendent who now leads the High School District Organization of Illinois. Read the article
