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When state testing time rolls around next spring, it won't matter if a youngster has just arrived from rural Mexico -- or has never heard a word of English spoken in the home.
All students will confront the same high-stakes Illinois tests in English, regardless of how much exposure they've had to the spoken word or printed text.
State Superintendent Christopher Koch informed local school districts November 1, 2007, that students with limited English proficiency, known as English Language Learners, must take the regular state tests "with accommodations" while the state develops an assessment that meets with the approval of the United States Department of Education.
In Norridge and Harwood Heights, school superintendents were horrified by the decision, and they drew on every synonym for "awful" in their idiolects while expressing their dismay.
"This really stinks. This is angering. This is bad," said Superintendent Ray Kuper, of Union Ridge Elementary School District 86, in Harwood Heights. "This is just a nightmare. We've been betrayed."
'Betrayed'
"We're speechless," agreed Superintendent Sue Knight, of Norridge Elementary School District 80. "This is amazing. We still don't understand what this is all about."
And Ridgewood High School District 234 Superintendent Bob Lupo concurred.
"This is a travesty. It's unconscionable," he said. "Last year, the test was screwed up. This year, individual scores had to be thrown out. Now this?
"In three years, we tripled our scores on ESL tests. And those are the tests they're throwing out?"
The State Board had tried to adapt its test of language proficiency to the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. In the end, though, that didn't work. A federal review panel found the Illinois test used for English Language Learners was not sufficiently aligned with the state's learning standards. Nor was it comparable to the Illinois Standards Achievement Test or the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which is based largely on the ACT.
"The state of Illinois had no recourse at this point in time," said Margo Gottlieb, director of assessment and evaluation for the Illinois Resource Center, which provides assistance to districts with linguistically diverse populations. "This is a stopgap measure, a short-term solution to a longstanding problem."
Illinois isn't the only state where tests didn't meet federal standards, Knight offered.
"Anger doesn't get us any place. We've tried it before. Some states had exams that were approved," she added. "Can we borrow their tests?"
Deadlines
The news couldn't come at a worse time for local school districts already worried about their ability to keep up with the rising achievement targets of the No Child Left Behind law. Next spring, 62 percent of students in each subgroup must pass state tests if the school or school district is to avoid sanctions, which range from transfer options to wholesale restructuring.
A school's limited English population counts as a separate subgroup if there are more than 45 students taking the test across grade levels.
Gottlieb said the testing change, albeit temporary, likely will put more schools in line for sanctions. "There will probably be repercussions from students not meeting standards and schools not making adequate yearly progress," said Gottlieb.
"We're caught in a panic mode by the state and federal governments," Kuper said. "The kids aren't going to be able to pass. You'll see wholesale penalties to schools."
Panic and penalties
For now, educators aren't sure what "accommodations" might be allowed for students struggling with the language -- whether, say, students might be given extra time or allowed to use a glossary. The State Board plans to announce the nature of the accommodations in a few weeks.
"Extra time? They could give them till next year, and it still wouldn't help," Kuper said. "The only accommodation that would help would be to test them in their native languages. That's just not going to happen."
High schools will be more adversely affected than elementary schools, Kuper predicted.
"High school kids will have to take the ACTs in English," he explained. "Those are college entrance exams."
Lupo agreed.
"How are we helping these students?" he wondered. "The ACTS are reading-intensive in science. These kids aren't going to get the services they need."
The IMAGE test, which stands for the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English, started out as a test of language proficiency that was used to assess progress in acquiring the language and to decide whether a student was ready to leave a bilingual program.
When the No Child Left Behind law was enacted late in 2000, every state was required to develop a test that could measure the progress of English Language Learners against state standards. In Illinois, students were allowed to take the alternative test if they'd been in a bilingual or English as a Second Language program for three or fewer years, not counting kindergarten. At six years, students were required to take the ISAT or PSAE. Pupils who'd spent four or five years in a bilingual program could take either exam.
Some educators wonder what, if anything, will be learned from giving students a test when they are still struggling with the language.
"Acquiring the academic language necessary for academic success is a long-term process," said Gottlieb, an expert in the testing of English Language Learners. Measuring students with a test that presumes English proficiency "is not a true measure", she said. "It doesn't help our community."
Staff writer Wynn Foster contributed to this report.
Article written by Staff Writer Karen Berkowitz in the Thursday, November 29, 2007 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/news/671037,no-esltest-112907-s1.article. Used with permission.
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