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Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Bruce Rauner: Don't lower the bar for Illinois students
If you've ever watched the high jump event in track and field, you know they raise the bar a little at a time to determine who can clear the greatest height without knocking the bar to the ground. It's exhilarating to watch each athlete rise to the challenge. Now imagine if they did it in reverse, lowering the bar in each round so everyone feels good about their performance and gets awarded a medal. It would spare some frustration and disappointment, but it also would defeat the entire purpose of the event — and no one would ever improve. The same principle applies in education. If we keep lowering expectations to create the illusion of success, we fail the very students we claim to be helping. According to state education officials, Illinois currently has 'some of the highest proficiency benchmarks in the nation.' Yet instead of keeping that bar high or even raising it, they're proposing reworking the state's benchmarking system because it 'unfairly mislabels students.' State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders recently proposed that Illinois lower its state assessment standards to 'provide us with more accurate data.' Lowering the standards doesn't make the scores more accurate. It sends the wrong signal to students and creates misinformation for parents and educators that results in more students falling through the cracks. This is part of a troubling trend picking up steam across the country. In 2024, Oklahoma and Wisconsin revised their academic standards by lowering the passing scores on their state tests. As a result, students this year were not required to demonstrate the same level of mastery as those in previous years. This change means that some students who would have previously been identified as needing additional support are now considered to be meeting expectations. Oklahoma realized the folly in lowering the bar and recently reversed course to reinstate higher expectations. According to the Nation's Report Card, a biannual assessment of math and reading administered to students in every state, Illinois needs to commit to more rigorous standards, not weaken them. This year's scores showed stagnant or declining results in the number of fourth grade students able to score at or above proficient for math and reading. By lowering expectations on state assessments, the number of students listed as below, at or above proficient could look wildly different than the scores reported by National Assessment of Educational Progress. This is what is known as an 'honesty gap.' It's an active choice to fudge proficiency scores because state leaders believe they're unfair. Lowering expectations for students in Illinois will only widen the honesty gap between state-reported performance and how students actually compare to their peers nationwide, leaving them unprepared for the realities they'll face after graduation. That's the most unfair thing we can do to our students. Numerous studies have shown a strong connection between reading achievement and long-term outcomes, such as college enrollment and lifetime earnings. Similarly, a recent Urban Institute study found that raising math scores by just 0.5 standard deviations for students up to age 12 led to greater increases in earnings by age 30 than any other factor examined. We don't want our students to be unprepared for the academic or professional challenges they will face after K-12 education. This is why Illinois should instead look to bolster current standards with more comprehensive policy solutions that will support students where they are: promoting and challenging those who are testing above proficiency and providing rapid evidence-based interventions and support to those who are testing below proficiency in an effort to bring them up to speed. Illinois policymakers just voted to give more than $300 million in additional funding to public schools. Billions of dollars in new spending has been allocated since we passed historic school funding reform in 2017, yet accountability continues to be eroded. Taxpayers deserve to know whether that additional funding leads to students improving in meaningful, measurable ways. Consistently high standards are the only way to ensure that. It might feel good in the short term to see more students clear the bar, but those same students are likely to wind up more disadvantaged in the long run because they won't get the support they need to make real improvement. Bruce Rauner was the 42nd governor of Illinois.
Chicago Tribune
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Paul Vallas: The real reason Chicago high schoolers are missing so much school — and what to do about it
Public schools are in crisis — not just in Chicago but also in Illinois and across the nation. Chicago Public Schools data obtained by WBEZ-FM 91.5 and Chalkbeat reveals a disturbing number of days missed by CPS students, adding to mounting evidence of systemic failure. Blaming this trend on more lenient makeup policies and an easier path to graduation sanitizes the deeper truth: Schools have been systematically abandoning standards and accountability and returning to a culture of social promotion. One might have expected that after COVID-19, school districts such as CPS would restore accountability systems. But that hasn't happened — not for students, teachers or schools. The accountability pause, brought on by the prolonged, union-driven shutdowns of school campuses, has become a permanent feature. It's now also reflected in widespread teacher absenteeism and inaction around failing schools. In CPS, more than 40% of teachers were absent from their classrooms for 10 or more days during the 2023-24 school year, the Tribune Editorial Board noted last year. This threshold marks what experts define as 'chronic absenteeism' among educators. Pre-COVID-19, that rate hovered around 31%. Meanwhile, CPS has not closed or consolidated even the most underenrolled or underperforming schools, nor has it reconstituted any failing ones. Rather than raise standards, Illinois education officials recently proposed lowering the proficiency thresholds on state standardized tests. They argue current benchmarks are too high and fail to reflect true college and career readiness. 'Our system unfairly mislabels students as 'not proficient' when other data — such as success in advanced coursework and enrollment in college — tell a very different story,' state schools Superintendent Tony Sanders said. But this is just the latest maneuver in a broader state strategy to address abysmal academic outcomes by redefining success downward. Teachers unions and their allies oppose accountability. Their strategy is simple: Failure is easier to hide when the definition of success is diluted. This has disastrous consequences, particularly for low-income families. CPS' dismantling of its magnet school system is also part of this effort — designed to erase high-performing outliers and obscure disparities. The Chicago Teachers Union has long opposed standardized testing. Under the now-abandoned School Quality Rating Policy, CPS once evaluated schools based on test scores. That's gone — replaced by a system that decouples school ratings from academic outcomes. The district has also weakened teaching standards. In 2023, 86.3% of CPS teachers were rated 'excellent' or 'proficient'; in 2024, it was 93.4%, according to Illinois Report Card data. Families are responding by leaving. Between 2010 and 2021, Illinois lost more than 250,000 students — the second-highest decline in the country, after California, the right-leaning think tank Wirepoints reported last year. The erosion of standards, the lack of school choice and CPS' extended COVID-19 shutdown have all contributed to this exodus. To make matters worse, the state has taken steps to eliminate competition. It failed to renew the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program. Meanwhile, the CTU's campaign to dismantle public alternatives such as charter and magnet schools is gaining ground. The abolition of the Illinois State Charter School Commission has allowed the CTU to pressure CPS into capping charter school numbers and enrollment. What's the recourse? There is no substitute for raising standards — for students, teachers and schools. Assessments should certainly go beyond test scores and include other indicators of success, but alternative evidence must complement, not excuse, failure. In my leadership roles across three of the nation's largest school districts, I saw firsthand how embracing high standards — combined with expanding instructional time — dramatically improved test scores, graduation rates and attendance. We must also empower local communities, through elected Local School Councils and principals, to control budgets and drive school-level reform. That includes the freedom to adopt better school models — whether traditional or private — and to consolidate underenrolled programs to expand opportunities. Parents, too, must have the right to choose the best school for their children — public, charter or private. Finally, high schools need to evolve into career-connected learning centers. Whether college-bound or not, every student should participate in universal work-study programs. These initiatives build financial literacy, expose students to real-world environments and connect them with professionals serve as role models. Paid internships would serve as many students' first jobs — helping them gain confidence and a sense of purpose. Just as early college programs substitute for some high school coursework, work-study opportunities should replace low-value electives. The cost savings from offering fewer electives could fund student salaries in work placements. As a bonus, this would place students in safe, structured environments surrounded by adults committed to success.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Illinois Considers Lowering Scores Students Need to be Considered Proficient on State Exams
This article was originally published in Chalkbeat. Illinois education officials are considering lowering the scores students need to get to be classified as proficient in a subject on a state standardized test. They say the current benchmarks are too high and the results often don't accurately reflect whether high school students are college and career ready. 'Our system unfairly mislabels students as 'not proficient' when other data — such as success in advanced coursework and enrollment in college — tell a very different story,' state schools chief Tony Sanders wrote in a message to school leaders this week. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The Illinois State Board of Education agreed Wednesday to move ahead with a process to change the state's testing system, though the exact details still are being worked out. That process will include creating new 'cut scores,' or the lowest score needed for a student to be sorted into broad categories of achievement on state assessments. If approved in August, the new cut scores would be applied to the tests taken by students this spring and reported publicly in October. The changes are likely to send the public a very different message about how students are doing on reading and math tests. Proposed changes to the state's testing system come at a time when schools in Illinois and around the country are still dealing with the academic fallout of the COVID pandemic. Other states, including Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Alaska, and New York, have made similar changes to their testing systems, according to The 74. Related Third to eighth graders in Illinois saw progress in reading last year — even exceeding proficiency levels pre-pandemic — but math scores still lagged behind past years, according to the state's 2024 report card. Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, remained stagnant. State officials acknowledged Wednesday that it would be difficult to compare proficiency rates on the October 2025 report card to previous years if the benchmarks are lowered. The move would likely result in more students across the state being considered proficient on state standardized exams. For instance, if a test has 1,000 possible points a student can score and last year a student needed to score 700 or above to be considered proficient and they scored 680, but the following year the cut score moved to 650 that student would be considered proficient. Sanders argued, however, that changes to the state's testing system are long overdue. In his message to school leaders this week, he said the state's current benchmarks are some of the highest in the nation. He pointed to a 2022 study by the National Center for Education Statistics that looked at how state accountability systems match up to NAEP, a national exam given periodically to a representative sample of American students in fourth and eighth grade. Illinois was among the states whose cut scores aligned with higher levels of performance on the national exam. Sanders said in an interview with Chalkbeat that the cut scores for the college entrance exam have been higher than what the College Board, an organization that created and administers the SAT and Advanced Placement courses and exams, recommended as 'college ready' on the SAT test in previous years — and that 'it just does not make sense.' 'When we look at how actual students are performing, we have so many examples of kids who have graduated, gone on to college, and persisted and been successful in college, yet, if they made decisions in their life based on the data that we gave them, they would never have gone to college,' said Sanders. Given that Illinois switched the high school test to the ACT, Sanders said the state board wants to ensure scores on the October 2025 report card accurately reflect where students are. In changing the state's testing system, state officials said they are aiming for greater 'coherence' between assessments. Currently, there are different proficiency levels for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, an exam taken by students in third to eighth grade in reading and math, the Illinois Science Assessment, taken by students in fifth, eighth, and 11th grades, and the high school college entrance exam, taken by students in 11th grade. State officials also noted in documents from Wednesday's board meeting that the state's academic standards, or what students are expected to learn, would not change. Jennifer Kirmes, director of policy at Advance Illinois, a nonprofit statewide advocacy organization, said that she believes there was a real call for change from school leaders, especially those teaching high school students, because some students were excelling in advanced classes but were classified as not proficient on state standardized tests. 'But in fact, those students have lots of other indicators that they are, in fact, college and career ready, which is ultimately what we're trying to measure at the high school level,' said Kirmes. 'They might have taken and passed several AP courses and exams, they might have dual credit.' Kirmes said getting proficiency levels right matters because schools are judged based on the results of standardized exams. In Illinois, schools can be labeled as Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted, Comprehensive, and Intensive. Based on what a school is labeled can determine what resources and support they will receive from the state. Federal law requires states to provide summative designations to schools based on students' test scores since the early 2000s. Sanders also told Chalkbeat that the state is working on changing the school accountability system for 2026. Educators, testing experts, and advocates have mixed feelings about changing the state's assessment standards. Some worry the new changes will not have any significant effect on teaching and students' learning. Monique Redeaux-Smith, from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, one of the state's largest teacher unions, said the union is not opposed to changing the cut scores, but they are concerned about the weight placed on state standardized assessments. The tests don't provide enough information for teachers about where students might need a helping hand, she said. 'What teachers do in the classroom is more valuable because they're actually seeing students explain. They're actually seeing students show their work. They're actually able to see where students might be getting stuck in their understanding,' said Redeaux-Smith. Paul Zavitkovsky, instructor and leadership coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said he doesn't think the changes will affect student learning if teachers are not given good information from the tests. 'Until we start reporting information from whatever kind of testing we do in a way that teachers, school level people look at and go, … 'This is much more useful in terms of helping me better understand what I am and am not doing well,'' said Zavitkovsky. In response to the criticism, Sanders said in an interview with Chalkbeat that state assessments are meant to generate the state report card and show how Illinois is performing. But he agrees that state assessments 'will likely never be a useful tool to teachers to be able to improve their teaching.' The Illinois State Board of Education is hosting listening tours around the state for school leaders, educators, parents, students, and others interested in changes to the state assessments. The next one will take place in Chicago from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on May 22 at the Chicago World Language Academy. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Illinois Department of Public Health updates vaccine dashboard
ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Illinois residents are now able to view updated vaccination records for schools — including data statewide, county, and school district vaccination trends. The Illinois Department of Public Health has added data from the 2024-2025 school year to their School Vaccination Coverage Dashboard. It uses publicly available data collected by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to track the vaccination trends. RELATED: IDPH offering new measles simulator amid national outbreaks 'Providing Illinois residents with access to real-time data to guide their medical decision-makingis a critical IDPH priority,' IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said. 'The updated schoolvaccination dashboard now allows parents and caregivers to review the latest vaccinationtrends in their local school districts. As a pediatrician, I know how important vaccinations arefor protective children from preventable illnesses. As measles outbreaks spread throughvarious parts of the United States, it is now more important than ever to make sure you andyour family members are up to date with all age-appropriate immunizations.' Illinois State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders said that vaccinations can help protect kids from preventable diseases and keep them in school. And, that the measles outbreaks in other parts of the country should serve as a 'call to action' for Illinoisians to protect their communities. Measure removing cannabis odor as probable cause for warrantless vehicle search passes Senate 'We're proud to partner with the Illinois Department of Public Health to provide this powerful tool to families, educators, and community leaders,' Sanders said. The IDPH said the dashboard helps public health officials, educators, policymakers, and Illinois residents make informed decisions about school immunization policies and public health initiatives. Key takeaways from the current data include: Overall measles vaccination rate for school children remains above 95% in Illinois in the 2024-2025 school year Over 70% of schools in the state have more than 95% of their students vaccinated for measles 10% of Illinois schools have less than 91% of their students vaccinated for measles Traditional public schools across the state have demonstrated higher coverage rates across all vaccine types, compared to public charter and nonpublic schools Homeschool Act stalls in House ahead of April 11th deadline The dashboard allows viewers to filter data by school year, types of immunizations, county, population of the school district and more. It also shows what percentage of a community needs to be immunized against a specific illness to protect those who are not immunized. You can find the dashboard here. A training tutorial for the dashboard can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How to check the measles vaccination rate at your child's school
CHICAGO (WGN) — Illinois health officials on Wednesday released a new online tool that allows residents to look up the measles vaccination rate at any school in the state to assess the risk of infection. Illinois this year is so far clear of confirmed measles infections, but Indiana health officials on Wednesday confirmed five more cases, bring that state's total to six. In Texas, officials said this week that a second child died of measles. An adult in New Mexico has also died. None of three who died were vaccinated. The last outbreak in the Chicago area was last spring, when dozens of infections were reported, mostly at shelters housing migrants to the city. 'Our new dashboard provides the public with the ability to review the measles vaccination rates in their child's school and its risk for an outbreak,' IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. The Measles Outbreak Simulator Dashboard currently uses vaccination data from both public and private schools in the 2023-2024 school year. It'll be updated with more-recent information from the current school year when the data becomes available 'in the near future,' the department's statement said. The tool provides predictions, projections and estimates for the size and spread of a measles outbreak in individual Illinois schools from Pre-K through 12th grade. 'I encourage every school administrator to explore this resource to support families in staying informed and up to date on vaccinations,' State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders said. Measles, which is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus, can spread easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Many in the United States are already protected. The CDC said the measles vaccine, which has been used for over 50 years, is considered to be very effective. Two doses of the vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles if exposed to the virus, and one dose is about 93% effective. Those who received the vaccine are usually fully protected for life after about two or three weeks, according to the CDC. While the vaccine has historically proven to be highly effective, the CDC said about three out of 100 who get the vaccine will still have measles if exposed. For more information on how to get vaccinated, call Cook County Health at 833-308-1988. Illinois residents can view their immunization records on the state's Vax Verify portal. Gabriel Castillo contributed to this report Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
