Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0049
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Full Text of HR0049  102nd General Assembly

HR0049 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives call upon the public universities in Illinois
4to study the usefulness and fairness of standardized tests in
5their admission processes; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The ultimate goal of analyzing the use of
7standardized testing in higher education is to move to a
8test-optional admittance process; and
 
9    WHEREAS, There are clear benefits to standardized testing
10merely being an optional step in the admission process, one of
11which is increased diversity; low income students typically
12score lower than their more affluent peers, putting them at a
13disadvantage in the admissions process; in 2016, the average
14ACT composite score for a high-income student was 23.6, while
15the average composite score for low income students was 19.5;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, After the University of Chicago made the decision
18to go test-optional, it reported record enrollments of
19first-generation, low-income, and rural students; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Public universities in Illinois making the choice
21to go test-optional would not be unique; currently, one in

 

 

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1four institutions of higher education no longer requires a
2standardized test score for admittance, and, in the last year
3alone, 41 schools have eliminated their standardized testing
4requirement; and
 
5    WHEREAS, A university moving to a test-optional admittance
6process is not at all synonymous with a university abandoning
7its prestige, as the standards for admittance would simply be
8shifted to the students' GPA, extracurricular activities, and
9references; a standardized test is not the only way to measure
10a student's potential; the choice to eliminate mandatory
11standardized testing from admittance processes can lead to a
12larger applicant pool for universities, thus creating a
13stronger student body; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The test-optional switch will be extremely
15beneficial to the low-income students of Illinois who have
16hopes of attending one of the State's exceptional public
17universities; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
19HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20we urge the public universities in Illinois to examine the use
21of standardized testing in their admissions processes; and be
22it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2delivered to all the public universities in Illinois.