Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HJR0045
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Full Text of HJR0045  99th General Assembly

HJ0045 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The future well-being of Illinois and the United
3States relies on a high-quality public education system; and
 
4    WHEREAS, After the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002,
5the United States went from 18th in the world in math on the
6Programme for International Student Assessment to 31st place in
72009; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The No Child Left Behind Act has been shown to
9widen the gaps and inequities among student populations; and
 
10    WHEREAS, School systems across the county have been
11spending growing amounts of time, money, and resources on
12high-stakes standardized testing; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act,
14annual State spending on standardized tests rose from $423
15million to almost $1.1 billion in 2008, according to the Pew
16Center on the States; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Student performance on standardized tests is used
18to make major decisions affecting individual students,
19educators, and schools; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing
2is undermining educational quality and equity in public
3schools; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Over-reliance on standardized testing hampers
5innovation, creativity, and deep subject-matter knowledge; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused
7too many schools to narrow their curriculum and teach to the
8test; and
 
9    WHEREAS, A national 2007 study by the Center on Education
10Policy reported that since 2001, 44% of school districts had
11reduced time spent on science, social studies, and the arts by
12an average of 145 minutes per week in order to focus on reading
13and math; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Over-emphasis on standardized testing can reduce
15interest in learning, push students out of school, drive
16excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermine school
17climate; and
 
18    WHEREAS, It is widely recognized that standardized testing
19is an inadequate and often unreliable measure of both student
20learning and educator effectiveness; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, English language learners and students with
2disabilities must take the same test as other students with
3little or no accommodations; and
 
4    WHEREAS, High-stakes standardized testing has negative
5effects for students from all backgrounds, and especially for
6low-income students, English language learners, children of
7color, and those with disabilities; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The structure of the systems in which students
9learn must change in order to foster engaging school
10experiences that promote knowledge; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
13SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we strongly urge Congress and
14President Obama's administration to reexamine public school
15accountability systems; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we encourage Congress and President Obama's
17administration to develop a system based on multiple forms of
18assessment which does not require extensive testing and more
19accurately reflects the broad range of student learning; and be
20it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That we call on Congress and President Obama's

 

 

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1Administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary
2Education Act, currently known as the "No Child Left Behind
3Act", reduce testing mandates, promote multiple forms of
4evidence of student learning and school quality in
5accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of
6student test scores in evaluating educators; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
8presented to President Barack Obama and each member of the
9Illinois congressional delegation.