Illinois - After a report commissioned by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) found that ISBE's proposal for overhauling the state assessment for grades 3-8 needs major revision, a coalition of education advocacy groups including the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and Illinois Families for Public Schools are urging ISBE to adopt several of the report's recommendations. Beginning in December 2021, at the request of ISBE, the Center for Assessment (CFA) surveyed educators and conducted focus groups with education leaders statewide to gather feedback about the state’s proposal. CFA used the responses to develop assessment recommendations. CFA’s primary findings show there is very little support for a statewide interim assessment system for grades K-8 and that any local use of interim tests should be decoupled from high-stakes accountability measures used to evaluate and rate schools. Interim or “through-year” testing means three times a year rather than annually administering the state test. The coalition – along with parents, teachers, and legislators - has opposed ISBE’s proposal to increase testing since it was released a year ago.
WHAT: Education leaders will discuss the findings of the CFA report and offer recommendations to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
WHO: Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery, Illinois Federation of Teachers Director of Union Professional Issues Dr. Monique Redeaux-Smith, the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Urban Education Leadership Paul Zavitkovsky, public school parent and Mt. Olive school CUSD 5 school board member John Essington, East St. Louis School District 189 teacher Olivia Coleman, and 20th District Illinois State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas. WHEN: Friday, April 29 at 10:00 AM WHERE: The press conference will be held via zoom. Please register here. It will also be live-streamed on the Illinois Federation of Teacher’s Facebook page.