It’s state testing season (again!) The window for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, 3-8th grade testing in reading and math, opens March 4th. The Illinois Science Assessment window also opens March 4th. Weeks of ACCESS testing for English-language learners is just wrapping up. High school students will be assessed on the PSAT and SAT later this month and next.

Public schools are obligated to give these tests under state and federal law, but aside from the SAT, which is required in order to receive a diploma in Illinois, students are not obligated to participate. 

Frequently Asked Questions for grades K-8

What is state testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8?

State testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8 consists of a series of tests. Nearly all students in Grades 3–8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), which tests students in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Students in Grades 5 and 8 also take a science test (ISA). Students with severe learning disabilities take a different test, called the DLM-AA. Students who are English Language Learners also take a test called ACCESS, which tests their proficiency with the English language.

How can my child opt out of taking the state tests in 2024?

In Illinois, a parent can inform the school that a child will not be participating in state testing but, according to the IL State Board of Education guidance, children must refuse the test themselves. We recommend that the parent submit a letter to the school indicating that the child will not take the state tests. However, the child must also inform the teacher that she or he will not be taking the tests. You can use these sample letters to opt out of the tests: bit.ly/IARoptout2024

Will my child be penalized for not taking the test?

No. There are no consequences for not testing and your child should not be punished for opting out of the state test.

Will state tests help my child or school in 2024?

Schools and teachers gather better information from everyday instruction than from standardized testing for helping your child learn. In addition, the delays in getting test results to schools mean they will not provide information that can be used to help your child this year.

Are there negative consequences for their school if my child opts out?

Schools may receive a lower accountability rating, but, since 2015, there have been no punitive consequences attached to those ratings for schools. In fact schools with lower ratings receive more support including, potentially, additional funding. No school has ever lost funding due to low participation.

Continued complicity with a system where state standardized testing disrupts learning is far more damaging to our public schools than families refusing the tests.

What will my child do when tests are being administered to other children?

Students should be given an alternative educational activity while other children are taking the test.

(Print the I Am Refusing image as Avery 6874 stickers)

Want to learn more? Read our main issue page on standardized testing here. Questions? Email [email protected] or call 773-916-7794

In the decades since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, much of the rhetoric around K-12 school performance and student academic achievement is centered around the percentage of students labeled as meeting or exceeding standards on state standardized tests. This percentage is often misinterpreted as the percentage of children scoring at or above grade level.

Frequently Asked Questions for grades K-8

What is state testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8?

State testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8 consists of a series of tests. Nearly all students in Grades 3–8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), which tests students in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Students in Grades 5 and 8 also take a science test (ISA). Students with severe learning disabilities take a different test, called the DLM-AA. Students who are English Language Learners also take a test called ACCESS, which tests their proficiency with the English language.

How can my child opt out of taking the state tests in 2023?

In Illinois, a parent can inform the school that a child will not be participating in state testing but, according to the IL State Board of Education guidance, children must refuse the test themselves. We recommend that the parent submit a letter to the school indicating that the child will not take the state tests. However, the child must also inform the teacher that she or he will not be taking the tests. You can use these sample letters to opt out of the tests: bit.ly/IARoptout2023

Will my child be penalized for not taking the test?

No. There are no consequences for not testing and your child should not be punished for opting out of the state test.

Will state tests help my child or school in 2023?

Schools and teachers gather better information from everyday instruction than from standardized testing for helping your child learn. In addition, the delays in getting test results to schools mean they will not provide information that can be used to help your child this year.

Are there negative consequences for their school if my child opts out?

Schools may receive a lower accountability rating, but, since 2015, there have been no punitive consequences attached to those ratings for schools. In fact schools with lower ratings receive more support including, potentially, additional funding. No school has ever lost funding due to low participation.

Continued complicity with a system where state standardized testing disrupts learning is far more damaging to our public schools than families refusing the tests.

What will my child do when tests are being administered to other children?

Students should be given an alternative educational activity while other children are taking the test.

(Print the I Am Refusing image as Avery 6874 stickers)

Want to learn more? Read our main issue page on standardized testing here. Questions? Email [email protected] or call 773-916-7794

Hundreds of bills are introduced in Springfield every session. Here's some of the bills that we'll be supporting or following closely during the spring 2022 session of the 102nd IL General Assembly. (This is an unusually short session that is scheduled to end April 8th instead of May 31st; there's a smaller volume of legislation under consideration than in a typical year.)

Key initiative

Too Young to Test  HB 5285 / SB 3986- [Fact Sheet] This bill would prohibit state developing, funding or requiring standardized testing before 3rd grade with exceptions for assessment for diagnostic and screening purposes, federally-required tests for English-language learners, the KIDS observational assessment tool that the state requires in kindergarten and tests paid for with local/district dollars. The federal government has never included K-2 in its regimen for annual math and reading tests; this is because large-scale standardized testing is not a valid or reliable measure of what children under 8 years know and can do. Expanding the state testing system into PreK-2nd grade shouldn't even be an option; this legislation would protect those grades from that encroachment going forward.

Other bills we support

Earned Income and Child Tax Credit HB 4920 Expands and modernizes the earned income credit, which will especially help low- and middle-income families with children, including adding credit for unpaid caregivers. The failure of the Fair Tax amendment on the ballot in November 2020 means that Illinois' tax system is still deeply regressive. Those who can pay the least, pay the most, and we can't increase revenue without hurting those who can least afford to pay. Advocacy orgs from around the state, including IL Families for Public Schools, are partnering with the Cost of Living Refund Coalition to ameliorate the effects of IL’s regressive tax policies with tax credits for lower-income brackets to offset the impact of a flat tax, including supporting this legislation. Read more about the legislation the coalition is advocating for here. 

Limit 3-8th grade testing to once/year - HB 5149 [Fact Sheet] Prohibits the IL State Board of Education from requiring more than annual math and reading testing in grades 3rd-8th. The federal government only requires annual testing in 3rd-8th grades in math and reading, but the ISBE would like to increase this to three times per year.

Better School Lunches HB 4813 This bill allows school districts to select a food service contractor based on factors other than the lowest bid. Illinois is one of only two states where districts are forced to pick the lowest bid. Read more about this bill here.

Looking for our past legislative agendas? 2021 - 102nd GA; 2020 - 101st GA; 2019 - 101st GA; 2018 - 100th GA

Frequently Asked Questions for grades K-8

What is state testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8?

State testing in Illinois for Grades 3–8 consists of a series of tests. Nearly all students in Grades 3–8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), which tests students in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Students in Grades 5 and 8 also take a science test (ISA). Students with severe learning disabilities take a different test, called the DLM-AA. Students who are English Language Learners also take a test called ACCESS, which tests their proficiency with the English language.

How can my child opt out of taking the state tests in 2022?

In Illinois, a parent can inform the school that a child will not be participating in state testing but, according to the IL State Board of Education guidance, children must refuse the test themselves. We recommend that the parent submit a letter to the school indicating that the child will not take the state tests. However, the child must also inform the teacher that she or he will not be taking the tests. You can use these sample letters to opt out of the tests: bit.ly/IARoptout2022

Will my child be penalized for not taking the test?

No. There are no consequences for not testing and your child should not be punished for opting out of the state test.

Will state tests help my child or school in 2022?

The unique challenges of the last few school years, including changes to the 2021 test administration, mean that the test results this year cannot be used reliably to compare with results from previous years. Schools and teachers will gather better information from everyday instruction that will be more useful for helping your child learn.

Are there negative consequences for their school if my child opts out?

Schools may receive a lower accountability rating, but, since 2015, there have been no punitive consequences attached to those ratings for schools. In fact schools with lower ratings receive more support including, potentially, additional funding. No school has ever lost funding due to low participation.

Continued complicity with a system where state standardized testing disrupts learning is far more damaging to our public schools than families refusing the tests.

What will my child do when tests are being administered to other children?

Students should be given an alternative educational activity while other children are taking the test.

(Print the I Am Refusing image as Avery 6874 stickers)

Want to learn more? Read our main issue page on standardized testing here. Questions? Email [email protected] or call 413-3OPTOUT

Last week, a lawsuit was filed against 145 school districts including Chicago Public Schools, Governor Pritzker and ISBE by groups of parents at these districts to lift the mask mandate and other covid safety measures in the schools. Each group of parents gave Attorney Tom Devore $5000 totalling $725K donated to make our schools and communities unsafe.

ISBE to move ahead with 3x/year state test despite backlash

Chalkbeat reported last week that the IL State Board of Ed wants to move ahead with a new state test for the 2022-2023 school year that they’ll pilot for two years while students also take the current IAR state test.

The new test would be what testing companies call an "interim" or “benchmark” test—administered three times a year—instead of a once-a-year summative test like the existing IAR. This is bad news as ample research has shown commercial interim tests are not educationally beneficial, and attaching high-stakes compounds the drawbacks.

The IL State Board of Education was set to approve a Request for Proposals for a $227M contract to start on July 1, 2021 to develop and administer a new state test for Illinois at its June board meeting. In response to organizing from teachers, parents and assessment experts, they announced a delay to the vote until at least August.

In April, the IL State Board of Education had on its agenda an approval of a Request for Proposals for a $227M contract to start on July 1, 2021 to develop and administer a new state test for Illinois. The test would be administered three times a year, not just once, and would cover K-2, not just 3-8th, which is what the federal government requires. The approval vote has been delayed until ISBE's June 16th meeting, but much of the pubic participation at this week's May ISBE meeting was devoted to comments on this RFP. Marty Gartzman spoke on behalf of IL Families for Public Schools.