Bill Text: IL HJR0045 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress and President Obama's administration to reexamine public school accountability systems.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-10)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-04-29 - Resolution Adopted 117-000-000 [HJR0045 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HJR0045-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The future well-being of Illinois and the United | ||||||
3 | States relies on a high-quality public
education system; and
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4 | WHEREAS, After the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002, | ||||||
5 | the United States went from 18th in
the world in math on the | ||||||
6 | Programme for International Student Assessment to 31st place in | ||||||
7 | 2009; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The No Child Left Behind Act has been shown to | ||||||
9 | widen the gaps and inequities among
student populations; and
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10 | WHEREAS, School systems across the county have been | ||||||
11 | spending growing amounts of time,
money, and resources on | ||||||
12 | high-stakes standardized testing; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, | ||||||
14 | annual State spending on
standardized tests rose from $423 | ||||||
15 | million to almost $1.1 billion in 2008, according to the Pew
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16 | Center on the States; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Student performance on standardized tests is used | ||||||
18 | to make major decisions affecting
individual students, | ||||||
19 | educators, and schools; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing | ||||||
2 | is undermining educational
quality and equity in public | ||||||
3 | schools; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Over-reliance on standardized testing hampers | ||||||
5 | innovation, creativity, and deep
subject-matter knowledge; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused | ||||||
7 | too many schools to narrow their
curriculum and teach to the | ||||||
8 | test; and
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9 | WHEREAS, A national 2007 study by the Center on Education | ||||||
10 | Policy reported that since 2001,
44% of school districts had | ||||||
11 | reduced time spent on science, social studies, and the arts by | ||||||
12 | an
average of 145 minutes per week in order to focus on reading | ||||||
13 | and math; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Over-emphasis on standardized testing can reduce | ||||||
15 | interest in learning, push students
out of school, drive | ||||||
16 | excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermine school | ||||||
17 | climate; and
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18 | WHEREAS, It is widely recognized that standardized testing | ||||||
19 | is an inadequate and often unreliable
measure of both student | ||||||
20 | learning and educator effectiveness; and
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1 | WHEREAS, English language learners and students with | ||||||
2 | disabilities must take the same test as
other students with | ||||||
3 | little or no accommodations; and
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4 | WHEREAS, High-stakes standardized testing has negative | ||||||
5 | effects for students from all
backgrounds, and especially for | ||||||
6 | low-income students, English language learners, children of
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7 | color, and those with disabilities; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The structure of the systems in which students | ||||||
9 | learn must change in order to foster
engaging school | ||||||
10 | experiences that promote knowledge; therefore, be it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
12 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
13 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we strongly urge Congress and | ||||||
14 | President Obama's administration to reexamine public school | ||||||
15 | accountability
systems; and be it further
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16 | RESOLVED, That we encourage Congress and President Obama's | ||||||
17 | administration to develop a system
based on multiple forms of | ||||||
18 | assessment which does not require extensive testing and more
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19 | accurately reflects the broad range of student learning; and be | ||||||
20 | it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That we call on Congress and President Obama's |
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1 | Administration to overhaul the
Elementary and Secondary | ||||||
2 | Education Act, currently known as the "No Child Left Behind | ||||||
3 | Act",
reduce testing mandates, promote multiple forms of | ||||||
4 | evidence of student learning and school
quality in | ||||||
5 | accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of | ||||||
6 | student test scores in
evaluating educators; and be it further
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7 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
8 | presented to President Barack Obama
and each member of the | ||||||
9 | Illinois congressional delegation.
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