Illinois Assessment of Readiness

The tests assess students’ knowledge and skills in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics outlined in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Depending on the grade level, the tests require between 8.25 and 9.25 hours. PARCC anticipates that many students will need significantly less time to complete the tests.

Students will take between one and two assessment per day. If they take two tests in one day, they will have a break between tests.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA) requires states receiving Title I funds, including Illinois, to administer annual reading and math exams to all students in grades 3-8. With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, Illinois wanted a new assessment system that aligned with the CCSS. In the past, Illinois used the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) to meet the federal testing requirement. It then migrated to PARCC. The IAR is the newest version of the state tests.

The IAR is a computer-based assessment system.

The DLM replaces the Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA). A student’s IEP will indicate if a student is taking the DLM. A number of accommodations exist for taking the IAR. The student’s case manager and the Director of Special Education determine the appropriate accommodations, which are documented in the student’s IEP. We should also note that the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) is an alternate assessment system for students with significant cognitive disabilities. It shows what the students know in ways that traditional tests cannot.

IAR allows for a limited number of accommodations for ELL students. The ELL teacher is managing the accommodations and is very committed to providing the most accommodations allowable to help the students complete the assessments successfully.

Over the past several years, District 27 has been revising its reading, writing, and math curricula to align with CCSS. We have great confidence in the rigor and thoroughness of our curricula, and District and national assessment data continue to indicate extremely high student achievement. Given these realities, our students should demonstrate strong performance.

The key dynamic is that what we teach in the classroom should be directly aligned with what is measured on the IAR, specifically CCSS. Theoretically, IAR assesses students’ knowledge and skills delineated in CCSS. Thus, preparation for the IAR rests primarily on implementing a rigorous, CCSS-aligned curriculum and using classroom-based assessments to monitor student learning. We continue to focus on our high-quality curriculum rather than isolated “test prep.” However, we know that students should be familiar with the IAR test formats in ELA and math. We have embedded some practice questions within our curriculum and distribute that practice across the school year. As testing time approaches, we will familiarize students with the online testing environment. We are committed to maintaining our focus on the District 27 curricula and are keeping “test prep” to a minimum while ensuring that we have sufficiently prepared the students.

As with other standardized assessments, you can take two critical steps: ensure that your child gets sufficient sleep and eats an adequate breakfast. We ask that you please refrain from doing any type of test prep. We want our students to feel as relaxed as possible when taking the tests. Because we will not use the assessment results for placement purposes, you and your child should not feel any pressure to prepare. Please allow your child’s teacher to familiarize your child with the PARCC test format.

Each grade level carefully reviews student performance data on the IAR and uses the information to inform decisions regarding intervention services. At the District level, the test results are used for curriculum revisions and refinements. 

For a sampling of the IAR questions, PARCC’s Sample Items webpage provides several math and ELA questions clustered by grade level bands. Because IAR uses PARCC content, the PARCC practice pages or appropriate for use. For a more comprehensive review of IAR test questions, IAR’s Practice Tests webpage provides grade level tests for ELA and math. You can view online and paper/pencil versions.

If you choose to take some sample tests, please know that we found some of the test items and ELA passages unnecessarily difficult. For example, the following excerpt is part of one of the passages in the Grade 8 test. As you can see, the passage jumps immediately into a description of how an experiment was designed. Although a previous article within the practice test addresses the experiment, it does not provide enough background information or context for a reader to navigate this technical writing. The procedures are so difficult to understand and visualize that one would normally have diagrams to illustrate the experiment set-up. Unfortunately, diagrams are not present in this passage.

Please be assured that we are NOT using samples like the one above with our students. When using practice tests with students, our goal is to familiarize them with the format of the test and to build their confidence.

No. Federal and state laws do not provide for any opt-out provisions. If fewer than 95 percent of students in a district do not take the assessment, a district will automatically fail to meet its accountability obligations and be at risk of losing federal funding, hurting schools and ultimately all the students.

We fully support a State accountability assessment system. There is much value for the State of Illinois and the Department of Education to know how well students are prepared for the future. We also want to be able to benchmark our students’ achievement with larger comparative groups to ensure that we are highly competitive with other students in Illinois and throughout the nation. With that said, we question the need for annual tests, particularly for a district like ours that consistently demonstrates high student achievement and one that has so many other local and standardized measures to determine our students’ growth and achievement. If annual assessments remain, (as currently mandated under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act), we support a reduction in the number of assessments.

Since the time that PARCC had been identified as Illinois’ State Assessment measure (now the State uses the IAR), District 27 has worked with the State Superintendent as well as state and federal legislators to articulate the aspects of it that are not productive. As we have mentioned, District 27 supports a state-wide accountability system. At the same time we must all remember that schools should focus on the “whole child.” This focus takes into consideration learning in all core subject areas, as well as the fine arts, physical education, social-emotional development, other state and federally mandated instruction. With this broader view in mind, the Superintendent continues to emphasize that no state test should consume an inordinate amount of testing time or instructional time.

District is a high performing district that has made it a priority to educate the “whole child” and to maintain the highest standards of achievement for our students. It is our expectation to prepare our students well for Glenbrook North High School and beyond. At the same time we are committed to working cooperatively with our state leaders, being actively involved in any discussions/planning related to state-mandated assessment, and improving education for all students.