Student Assessment
ISBE Student Assessment Science Overview
2009 ISAT and PSAE
ISAT Science
The 2009 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for grades 4 and 7 will take place from March 2-13, 2009. It will contain 80 multiple-choice science items given in two 45 minute sessions. Session One of the Science ISAT for grades 4 and 7 will have 40 science items and Session Two will have 40 science items with 45 minutes to complete each session. Students are allowed up to an extra 10 minutes, beyond the 45 minutes, if they are actively engaged in testing.
Thirty norm-referenced items from the SAT 10 and 50 Illinois-developed criterion-referenced items comprise the science portion of ISAT. All 80 items follow the SAT 10 style and all items have color. The test items in the 2009 ISAT are aligned to the Illinois Assessment Framework (IAF). The IAF in Science defines the content that will be assessed on ISAT and PSAE. There are also sample items available at www.isbe.net/assessment/htmls/sample_books.htm. New 2009, ISAT sample books will be sent to schools in December and they are also now available online.Pearson purchased Harcourt Assessment, Inc., located in San Antonio, in 2008 and Pearson is now the contractor responsible for developing the ISATs. Pearson works with Illinois item writers and ISBE to develop the test items. Illinois teachers write and review test items each year. If you would like to become a writer or reviewer, please contact Pam Stanko at pstanko@isbe.net. Pearson is also the contractor responsible for printing, distributing and retrieving test booklets, scoring, and providing reports for all districts.
Preliminary scores from the 2009 ISAT will be available to district personnel online (on IWAS) by June 1, 2009. Final paper copies are sent to districts in August. Reporting categories for the 2009 ISAT will be determined using the following Standard groupings: 11A and 11B, 12A and 12B, 12C and 12D, 12E and 12F, 13A and 13B. An Item Analysis Summary (IAS) will be sent to the districts identifying all of the Assessment Objectives that were assessed on ISAT and the percentages of students at each grade, and within each school, who correctly answered those objectives.
Important Note: Science is not used to calculate Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for school accountability. Only reading and math scores are used for AYP purposes. NCLB required that all states assess science by 2008. Illinois already had science assessments in place at grades 4, 7 and 11, thus meeting the federal requirements. Science will only be included in AYP calculations if NCLB is reauthorized to include science as an AYP subject. As of July, 2008 this has not occurred.
PSAE Science
The 2009 Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) will be given from April 22-23 to all high school juniors. The make-up session will be held on May 6-7, 2009. Day 1 of the PSAE is the ACT Science Assessment which is comprised of 40 multiple-choice items. Day 2 of the PSAE involves the IL-Developed Science with the ACT WorkKeys Reading for Information and Mathematics. More information can be found at www.isbe.net/assessment/psae.htm.
The IL-Developed Science portion of the PSAE takes place on April 23, 2009. Students will have 40 minutes to answer 45 multiple-choice items.
Like the ISAT, test items that appear on the PSAE are aligned to the Illinois Assessment Framework (IAF). Unlike the ISAT, students do not have up to an additional 10 minutes if they are actively engaged in testing.
All science Standards except 11A appear on the IL-developed portion of the PSAE. The ACT Assessment in science (Day 1 of the PSAE) includes many items that require students to use science inquiry (11A) skills and strategies. Sample items and Preparing for the ACT can be found at http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/index.html.
ACT is our contractor for Day 2 Science test development. Our procedure for test item development is the same as it is for ISAT. Illinois teachers write and review the items for Day 2 Science.
Questions concerning the science portion of the ISAT or the science portion of the PSAE should be directed to Pam Stanko at the Illinois State Board of Education, 217/782-4823 or email at pstanko@isbe.net.
