Like a luxury hotel or a swanky restaurant, your neighborhood school could soon get an elite five-star rating.
Then again, it could also get four, three or two stars — or even hit bottom as a one-star school with poor test scores and other big problems.
Joining a wave of states embarking on controversial reforms, Illinois is moving to overhaul how students are tested and schools judged, with the proposed “star” rating system just one element of a dramatic plan aimed at shaking up a decade of status quo.
The federal No Child Left Behind law enacted in 2002 ushered in high-stakes testing with an intense focus on minority and poor students and unpopular failing labels for schools. As they build a new generation of tests and rating systems, Illinois and other states are seeking — and getting — permission from the Obama administration to get around the law’s main provisions, which were often viewed as virtually impossible to meet.
Among the most striking of these was the requirement that all students pass state exams by 2013-14.
The 685-page proposal by Illinois to get a “waiver” from these mandates now awaits approval by theU.S. Department of Education, which could come as early as May. The document reviewed by the Tribune reveals what are guaranteed to be hotly debated changes. These include:
*More testing than ever. Beginning next spring, the state would add mandatory tests for ninth and 10th graders; require eighth graders to take two tests instead of one; and add a new section to an already two-day state exam given to 11th graders. For the first time, Illinois would mandate testing in every grade from 3 to 11.
*Raising the score required to pass grade-school exams, which likely would mean that tens of thousands more students will fail, according to state projections. Officials acknowledge it’s been too easy to pass the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests — about 85 percent passed last year — and there’s a big drop in performance when students take the 11th-grade exam. If the score goes up, the ISAT passing rate is likely to plummet to about 50 percent after spring 2013 testing.
*Judging schools and districts based on several factors instead of just a snapshot performance on an annual state exam.
Under No Child Left Behind, schools can fail federal standards and face sanctions if too many students flunk state tests. The new rating system would include more assessment categories, such as whether students are making yearly progress and how prepared they are for college. Each major category would be worth 100 points — points that would be the basis of the star ratings.
State education officials say the expanded testing would allow schools to better chart the annual progress of students, ensuring they are on track for college or careers. During the 2014-15 academic year, Illinois would launch a more rigorous testing system, with several days of required tests in each grade from 3 to 11.
The state has held meetings and sought comments on the proposals, but it still expects resistance to such elements as the higher ISAT passing requirement that’s expected to cause more students to flunk.
“We are aware of the significant obstacle we face in communicating this change to educators, students, parents and the public,” the waiver proposal states.
Bob Schaeffer, public education director at FairTest, a nonprofit group critical of misuse of standardized tests, said he thinks parents will be outraged when their children and schools start failing so many tests, blemishing the reputation of neighborhood schools.
“To see large numbers of students flunking will be a disconnect for parents who know their schools are decent. What are you going to believe: this test or your own eyes? Parents are going to be outraged,” Schaeffer said.
Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Mary Fergus emphasized the proposals “are a work in progress.”
After a review, and recommending changes if necessary, the U.S. Department of Education has shown an inclination to approve the waiver applications, she said. So far, 11 states have been approved and 26 others have applied and are waiting for a decision, including Illinois. The District of Columbia also has applied.
The star rating system isn’t unique in trying to give the public an easy and familiar way to gauge how schools are doing.
Georgia will soon start a new rating system using red, green and yellow flags as well as stars to gauge academic achievement, school finances and other conditions.
Florida has long used an A through F grading system, an approach Indiana is switching to, officials said.
The letter grades beat the previous rating system, which included five hard-to-follow performance labels, said Indiana State Department of Education spokeswoman Stephanie Sample.
“The public really likes it, because they understand it,” she said. Realtors also like it, she said, because when they’re selling a house, they can say, ‘This is an A school district.'”
In Illinois, not everyone is pleased with the star approach.
“Stars might be great to review movies, restaurants and hotels, but is it appropriate for schools?” an unnamed curriculum director said in comments that were included in Illinois’ proposal to the federal government.
An assistant superintendent for instruction, who also wasn’t named, commented: “The star system of communicating levels of school excellence is a strategy that will misrepresent the complexity of scholastic achievement. The public will be misled by this simplistic approach.”
Fergus said the precise formula for calculating the star ratings isn’t ready yet, but it should be in place by fall 2013, following spring testing that year.
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Illinois’ proposal to add more testing also has generated concerns — from educators, advocacy groups and students.
“It’s almost a joke. We’ll just add one more standardized test,” said Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Chicago’s nonprofit Parents United for Responsible Education.
In February, her organization submitted comments to the state board that called Chicago’s schools “test factories.”
“This proposal,” the group said, “will make that terrible situation worse for our children.”
Daniel Vazquez, a student activist and senior at Chicago’s Kelly High School, has lived through the gamut of state testing over the years and recalls the embarrassment of failing the 3rd-grade ISAT.
“Oh, my God, it was horrible,” Vazquez said. “The test, it doesn’t mean anything. … It is just statistics, not the person you are. There is no critical thinking.”
In his classes, he said, “They don’t focus on the real important issues. They focus on the test, and strategies to pass the test.”
Vazquez acknowledged that tests serve a purpose in showing what students have learned. But he would prefer assessments that highlight their work rather than exams that he describes as “hard-core, brain-killing exercises that really don’t show true results.”
Another student, Aaron Jackson, a senior at Grayslake Central High School, said he appreciated practice sessions offered at his school for the ACT college-entrance exam. The ACT is given on the first day of state testing for 11th graders.
A good ACT score is critical to getting into a good college. “You want every opportunity to take advantage (of those practice sessions) so you can go to the school you want,” Jackson said.
Still, Jackson questioned why it’s necessary for all 11th graders to take ACT’s WorkKeys tests, which are job-skills-related assessments. He suggested that perhaps only students who know they aren’t college-bound should take those tests.
In addition to the ACT, 11th graders are required to take two WorkKeys exams, and the state is proposing to add a third to enable students to receive a “National Career Readiness Certificate” that they can show employers.
At the same time, two other tests would be added to the mix of mandatory examinations. Both are college-readiness exams and precursors to the ACT.
One of the tests — EXPLORE — would be taken by ninth graders as well as by eighth graders, who also will take the ISAT. The other test, PLAN, would be given to 10th graders.
Almost 280,000 students in those grades voluntarily took EXPLORE or PLAN tests in their districts last year, but more than 200,000 did not.
Funding could be an issue. At a time of severely strained finances, the state estimates it would cost at least $3.8 million for all eighth, ninth and 10th graders to take the tests.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers expressed concerns in a letter in February, saying the state wants to require additional ACT-related tests “without confirmation of available state funding to cover costs of the implementation.”
At the heart of this debate over testing is the landmark federal education law that was the creation ofPresident George W. Bushand his administration. The No Child Left Behind law drew bipartisan support with its emphasis on improving performance and making sure students from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds pass state exams. Civil rights advocates supported the focus on minorities and poor children.
But many educators considered the goals unattainable, including a requirement that all students pass state exams by 2013-14. In fact, thousands of schools have failed the federal standards, which include annual targets for passing state tests, putting pressure on lawmakers to change the law. But Congress has been unable to reach a consensus on what to do.
The Department of Education has given states flexibility to get around the law until the end of 2013-14, though extensions may be sought.
The administration’s move to bypass the law and circumvent Congress’ role in acting on legislation is considered highly controversial.
As they aim at an overhaul of their testing systems, Illinois and other states are ultimately focusing on boosting the percent of students passing such exams, and shrinking achievement gaps between different student groups such as minorities and white students over a six-year period.
That doesn’t mean all students will have to pass the exams, even by the end of six years.
And that is a more realistic approach than No Child Left Behind’s requirement that 100 percent of students pass, said Amy Wilkins, a vice president at The Education Trust, a nonprofit group in Washington that advocates for closing achievement gaps.
“The 100 percent seemed unrealistic to people,” she said. “You couldn’t mobilize political pressure to meet the goals because a large segment of the public thought they were unrealistic.”