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Update Regarding Spring State of Illinois Standardized Assessments
Spring State of Illinois Standardized Assessments
March 22, 2021

The following is a message for parents/guardians from the Geneva CUSD 304 Office of Learning & Teaching regarding Spring State of Illinois Standardized Assessments. Thank you.

Each year, our district administers standardized tests to students at various grade levels. We believe that the information from standardized tests can be of value to students, parents, teachers, and administrators. We realize that each standardized test that we administer is only a “snapshot” in time of the student’s overall performance. However, this “snapshot,” along with other data, can be used to provide a more complete picture of each student. Information from standardized tests can also assist the district in reviewing and revising our curriculum, in planning for programming, and in identifying learning gaps related to COVID-19.

As with many aspects of our programming this year, our assessments have been, and may continue to be, impacted by COVID-19. The Illinois State Board of Education asked the Federal Department of Education for a waiver of assessments. The Federal Department of Education did not grant this request but is allowing state departments of education to alter assessments. Such alterations could be related to scheduling of assessments, timing of assessments, number of assessments given in a specific assessment, and/or accountability measures such as participation percentages, graduation requirements, etc. We have yet to hear what any such alterations have been determined for Illinois. We will communicate, once aware, any significant adjustments.

One significant requirement of the assessments is that they are all to be administered in-person. ISBE has shared that no assessment may be administered remotely. This means that our online-only learners will be invited into the building to participate in their spring assessments. The assessments will be conducted by their online-only teacher or other staff members at the school the online-only learner is associated with this year.  If your child does does not participate, we will mark them accordingly and you will not receive assessment results.  Please communicate in advance to your child’s online-only teacher or school administrator if you intend to not send your child in to take the assessment.  

COVID-19 mitigation procedures will be expected. These include self-certification of no symptoms, physical distancing, wearing of a mask, cleaning/disinfecting/sanitizing of spaces, and limited capacity of people in a space.

In Geneva, we are moving forward with the following assessments this spring. The following is an overview of the Geneva CUSD #304 District’s standardized assessments for the spring of the 2020-21 school year:
    ACCESS          March 15-May 25    K-12      English Language Acquisition
    IAR             March 15-May 14    3-8       ELA/Literacy and Mathematics
    DLM AA            March 15-May 10    3-11      Alternative Assessment
    SAT          April 13             ELA/Literacy and Mathematics-no writing

Additional information about schedules and directions for specifics related to testing will be shared by your child’s classroom teacher or school administrator.

General questions related to the district’s administration of and calendar of assessments may be directed to the Office of Learning & Teaching.