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| | HJ0045 | | LRB099 11069 MST 31462 r |
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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 |
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 |
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 |
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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| | HJ0045 | - 2 - | LRB099 11069 MST 31462 r |
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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 |
4 | | WHEREAS, Over-reliance on standardized testing hampers |
5 | | innovation, creativity, and deep
subject-matter knowledge; and |
6 | | WHEREAS, Over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused |
7 | | too many schools to narrow their
curriculum and teach to the |
8 | | test; and |
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 |
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 |
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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| | HJ0045 | - 3 - | LRB099 11069 MST 31462 r |
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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 |
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 |
21 | | RESOLVED, That we call on Congress and President Obama's |
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| | HJ0045 | - 4 - | LRB099 11069 MST 31462 r |
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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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