The Illinois State Board of Education is in the process of updating their student assessment and school accountability programs. As part of the process, State Superintendent Tony Sanders and his staff are touring the state to get input. They visited John A. Logan College to share the plan with educators from southern Illinois.
Rae Clementz who is the Executive Director of Data Accountability and Assessment lays out the challenge they're facing as they develop this new plan, "There are three parts to that. It's the student assessment that's telling us how well our students are doing in school. The accountability system that tells us where we need to focus. And then our statewide system of support to support those efforts."
The main effort is focused on two areas. First, they want to adjust the cut scores and how they're used to let students know how they're doing. Sanders worries that students are being told through these cut scores that they're not college ready, when many are.
The second prong of this plan is to adjust how schools are labeled. Sanders says that right now, the system is set up so that a school can be labeled commendable even if they have low levels of proficiency, "We're not trying to build a gotcha system. I'm not trying to label schools as failing. But at the same time I want to be transparent with schools and parents about how they're performing. That's the only way you're going to improve is if you actually understand your data and know you need to take steps to improve."
Kathy Clark is the superintendent of Johnston City. She said she came to learn about the new system. She's looking to see if this program will reflect what they've seen in her district that kids are growing and learning.
For her, the right plan needs to be able to help kids know what they're doing well and praise them for doing that, "For us to right size the data we use. To make it so that our kids see that they are actually doing well, and that they're progressing at the rates that they should."
Not only was Sanders looking for input from the educators at the meeting. He wants them to understand the new system so that when it's implemented, they're able to help explain it to parents. He wants parents to know how their students are performing and how the schools are helping children, "I want them to see the report card and make really intelligent decisions about where they put their child based on a report card that makes sense to them."
Clark appreciates the chance for superintendents and teachers to provide input, because she's seen how celebrating student growth has been helpful to students, "I think that we're moving in the right direction. I think that the state board of education has been listening to the needs of those of us in the field. The state board has their mind set on being able to really truly assess the kids in the state."
Sanders and his staff have more stops around the state through May. The student assessment piece of this puzzle will be seen on the school report cards released in October 2025. As for the school accountability changes the ISBE will continue working on these and unveil the new program in next year's report card in October 2026.
