HR1005 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 


 
HR1005 LRB094 19902 NHT 57102 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Illinois Standards Achievement Test, which
3 scores are critical to Illinois' compliance with the federal No
4 Child Left Behind Act of 2001, is being delivered late to
5 school districts across Illinois and with incomplete or
6 incorrect testing documents; and
 
7     WHEREAS, The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
8 requires all states to measure each public school's and
9 district's achievement and establish annual achievement
10 targets for the state to show adequate yearly progress; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Adequate yearly progress calculations in Illinois
12 are now based on three factors: (1) the percentage of reading
13 and mathematics scores that meet or exceed standards, compared
14 to the annual State targets; (2) the participation rate of
15 students in taking the State tests, which must meet or exceed
16 95%; and (3) the attendance rates of students in elementary and
17 middle schools and the graduation rates of students in high
18 schools, which must meet or exceed the State's annual targets;
19 and
 
20     WHEREAS, The Illinois Standards Achievement Test is
21 scheduled to be administered in all school districts between
22 March 6 and March 24 for students in grades 3 through 8 in
23 reading and mathematics and for students in grades 4 and 7 in
24 science; and
 
25     WHEREAS, The State Board of Education entered into a new
26 contract with assessment vendor Harcourt Assessment, Inc. in
27 2005 to administer the standardized test for the State of
28 Illinois; and
 
29     WHEREAS, Harcourt Assessment, Inc. has not adequately
30 performed its contractual duties for the State of Illinois,

 

 

HR1005 - 2 - LRB094 19902 NHT 57102 r

1 jeopardizing the validity of the State standardized test
2 because of multiple problems with timely delivery and the
3 accuracy of testing documents; therefore, be it
 
4     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
6 we request the State Superintendent of Education to attend a
7 joint hearing of the House Elementary and Secondary Education
8 Committee and the House Elementary and Secondary Education
9 Appropriation Committee to (1) produce the RFP request, with
10 all subsequent responses from interested parties, e-mails,
11 correspondence, and all other information concerning the
12 procurement of Harcourt Assessment, Inc.; (2) outline how the
13 contract with Harcourt Assessment, Inc. was derived; (3)
14 explain all provisions of the contract, in conjunction with the
15 State Board of Education's expectations for compliance with
16 contractual duties; (4) explain why the State Board of
17 Education was not aware of Harcourt Assessment, Inc.'s
18 inability to perform its contractual duties; and (5) explain
19 how the multiple problems with the delivery of tests and the
20 accuracy of testing documents put the 2006 standardized testing
21 in jeopardy of being invalid; and be it further
 
22     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
23 delivered to the Speaker of the House, the members of the House
24 Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, the members of
25 the House Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriation
26 Committee, the members of the State Board of Education, and the
27 State Superintendent of Education.