Full Text of HR0161 102nd General Assembly
HR0161 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Over the past several months, the Illinois State | 3 | | Board of Education has heard from superintendents, building | 4 | | principals, classroom teachers, parents, and students | 5 | | regarding their thoughts and concerns on federally required | 6 | | assessments for the 2020-2021 school year; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Because so many of our students have been | 8 | | separated from their school since March 2020, bringing | 9 | | students back in-person only to immediately begin state | 10 | | testing will have a detrimental effect on the goals of | 11 | | supporting their social and emotional well-being, mental | 12 | | health, and reconnection with the school community; while 77 | 13 | | percent of our 852 school districts are offering some | 14 | | in-person instruction, data show that more than a million | 15 | | students are still learning in fully remote environments; | 16 | | fewer than 200 Illinois school districts serving less than | 17 | | 200,000 students are currently able to provide fully in-person | 18 | | instruction to all students; Illinois students need their | 19 | | school and district administrators focused on resuming | 20 | | in-person instruction for the purposes of providing | 21 | | trauma-informed supports, increasing the quality of | 22 | | instruction, and rebuilding relationships between students and | 23 | | teachers; the administration of state assessments would take | 24 | | away from these critical endeavors that are foundational to |
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| 1 | | the recovery of our educational systems; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, After hearing the concerns of district and school | 3 | | leaders, teachers, families, and students, ISBE delayed its | 4 | | testing windows in order to provide as much flexibility for | 5 | | administration under socially distanced conditions; currently, | 6 | | and in addition to supporting the academic, social, and | 7 | | emotional needs of students, districts are utilizing time and | 8 | | resources to ensure transportation and safe logistics for | 9 | | testing; this time could be better spent coordinating | 10 | | vaccination administration for educators and the larger | 11 | | community and providing necessary supports for students; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Without a clear signal that the Department of | 13 | | Education will permit an assessment waiver, districts will | 14 | | continue to plan for the administration of assessments; this | 15 | | is not the optimal use of their time or resources; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Illinois educators understand and believe in the | 17 | | importance of assessment results, but the likely variability | 18 | | in participation across the State will limit the comparability | 19 | | and usefulness of the data at both the individual student and | 20 | | student group levels; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The potential yet diminished benefits of using | 22 | | incomplete state assessment data as a means of understanding |
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| 1 | | the scope of learning loss that may have occurred as a result | 2 | | of the pandemic do not outweigh the significant burden that | 3 | | the administration of state assessments would incur on our | 4 | | students, families, teachers, and administrators; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Assessment, the practice of collecting evidence | 6 | | about student learning to provide students with feedback and | 7 | | to inform supports and instructional design, is still | 8 | | critically important to helping students recover from the | 9 | | pandemic; schools, districts, and teachers can and should | 10 | | continue to conduct formative assessments at the local levels | 11 | | to understand the impact of the pandemic on student learning | 12 | | and provide holistic and individualized supports; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Accountability is an effective means of | 14 | | identifying schools and students in the greatest need of | 15 | | assistance; a second year without state assessments will | 16 | | impact longitudinal data and accountability systems; however, | 17 | | ISBE has the ability to continue to provide support to the | 18 | | highest need schools and students and to leverage local data | 19 | | sources to evaluate its progress; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 21 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 22 | | we urge the U.S. Department of Education, pursuant to section | 23 | | 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, |
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| 1 | | as amended, to offer states the option to waive the following | 2 | | assessment and concomitant accountability and reporting | 3 | | requirements; specifically the U.S. Department of Education | 4 | | should release an expedited waiver application for: | 5 | | (1) Assessment requirements in section 1111(b)(2) | 6 | | covering all required assessments in school year | 7 | | 2020-2021; | 8 | | (2) The requirement that a state annually meaningfully | 9 | | differentiate all public school and to identify schools | 10 | | for comprehensive and targeted support and improvement, as | 11 | | required in sections 1111(c)(4) and 1111(d)(2)(C)-(D); and | 12 | | (3) Those report card provisions related to | 13 | | assessments and accountability in section 1111(h) that | 14 | | would be based on data from the 2020-2021 school year; and | 15 | | be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That we believe that it is in the best interest | 17 | | of students and educators for the U.S. Department of Education | 18 | | to release an expedited waiver of assessment and | 19 | | accountability requirements for the 2020-2021 school year.
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