Diane Rado – Page 10 –

Some Chicago-area districts ditch online state exams, pick paper and pencil

August 18, 2019 at 6:50 p.m.

The affluent Highland Park-based Township High School District 113 has all the modern technology, bandwidth, computers and technicians it needs to administer new online state exams this spring — but...

Chicago Public Schools reconsiders snub of standardized PARCC test

August 18, 2019 at 6:45 p.m.

Chicago Public Schools officials are reconsidering their snub of a new, mandatory state exam after being threatened with potentially crippling financial sanctions. CPS testing administrators received a memo earlier this...

Colleen Cannon-Ruffo, a technology specialist, works with fourth-grade students Ivan Najdovski, from left, Alex Montchik and Becca Mask at Naperville's Scott Elementary School.

State science exams for 3 grades axed in spring testing

August 18, 2019 at 6:42 p.m.

In the latest drama over school testing in Illinois, the longtime state science exams for fourth-, seventh- and 11th-graders have been cut from the lineup of spring exams — even...

Illinois schools Superintendent Christopher Koch in the State Capitol in Springfield.

State threatens to withhold funds from schools that skip Common Core test

August 18, 2019 at 6:40 p.m.

A showdown over state testing is intensifying, with the Illinois State Board of Education threatening to yank as much as hundreds of millions of dollars from districts that don't administer...

Common Core test spurs angst among educators, parents

June 16, 2018 at 7:27 p.m.

When students in DuPage County's Lake Park High School District took a field test of Illinois' new state exam last spring, the reaction stunned administrators: "Our students said it was...

Francisco Castellon, a teacher at Berwyn's Irving Elementary School, works with second-graders Brian Valdovinos, left, and Itzel Vargas. Castellon is in his second year of teaching after studying through the state's Grow Your Own Teacher program.

Illinois falls short in $20 million effort to develop 1,000 teachers

August 18, 2019 at 6:36 p.m.

The state has spent more than $20 million in the past decade to develop 1,000 teachers who would work in distressed public schools and boost the number of minority educators...

State group pushing to overhaul civics education

August 18, 2019 at 6:31 p.m.

With a few adjustments, the classroom at Bartlett High School became a political stage, with a lectern, microphone and students debating over taxes, education, guns and same-sex marriage. The seniors...

Niles North High School sophomore Tanazza Hasan, left, and Cindy Salazar, a junior, determine density Thursday in a chemistry class at the Skokie school.

Report card: Illinois schools in the hole as spending rises

August 18, 2019 at 6:16 p.m.

Illinois school districts ended up nearly $1 billion in the hole in 2013, dipping into reserves or borrowing to pay the bills, according to the latest finance data, painting a...

Dara Yee, left, and Ryan Liberman take an honors physics class at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook. The school is considered among the top 10 high schools in the state.

Most public school students aren’t prepared for college work, data show

June 18, 2018 at 7:21 a.m.

With top test scores and high graduation rates, Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook sees almost 90 percent of its graduates go off to college. But it's another story in...

William Moreno, 9, is recognized as a winner of a Spanish heritage essay contest at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting. Also Wednesday, CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett sought a delay in the rollout of a new standardized test.

CPS asks feds for delay on new standardized test

June 17, 2018 at 5:26 a.m.

Chicago Public Schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett said Wednesday that she'll ask the federal government to delay the rollout of a new and controversial state exam for grade school students this...

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