For Immediate Release
March 3, 2008
360,000 online sample tests taken as nearly 1 million
students prepare for annual ISAT testing
Nearly 3,000 tests per hour being accessed
during the school day
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education
(ISBE) announced today that more than 360,000 interactive
Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) practice tests
have been accessed online as students get ready for statewide
testing. The ISAT tests will be administered during the
next few weeks in schools throughout Illinois and the
interactive tests can be found online at http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html.
“The interactive tests provide parents and students
with an idea of the type of questions to expect on the
ISAT, which will, hopefully, relieve some test anxiety
and help students to be more confident as they prepare
to take the tests,” said State Superintendent Christopher
A. Koch. “I think the amount of interest in the
website demonstrates the emphasis No Child Left Behind
has placed on state testing.”
For the next few weeks, through Friday, March 21st,
about 940,000 students in third – eighth grades
will take the ISAT in reading and mathematics. In addition
to the reading and math tests students in fourth and
seventh grades will be tested in science and students
in the fifth, sixth and eighth grades will be tested
in writing.
Since the practice, interactive multiple choice tests
were made available on February 4 – four weeks
prior to state testing – the website has been averaging
3,000 tests being accessed per hour during regular school
hours and 100 tests per hour during evenings and weekends.
After completing the sample test, each student is shown
the number of correct and incorrect answers, as well
as the percentage of correct answers. The sample test
summary also highlights the correct answer in green and
the student’s answer in red, if it is incorrect.
The sample questions in the interactive
tests are the same questions in the ISAT Sample Books
that were posted online in November and mailed to each
school in January. The sample books are available online
at http://www.isbe.net/assessment/htmls/sample_books.htm.
Other ISAT testing facts:
- During this school year the state will spend nearly
$17.5 million dollars administering the ISAT.
- Illinois was singled out in 2007 by the U.S. Department
of Education as being one of the top 4 states in closing
achievement gaps.
- Between 1999 and 2007, ISAT reading performance increased
at grades 3, 5 and 8.
- ISAT mathematics performance increased at grades
3, 5 and 8 between 1999 and 2007.
Results from the 2008 state testing will be released
this fall in the annual school, district and state Report
Card. The Report Card offers a wealth of useful and important
information for students, schools and districts, as well
as parents and community members including overall student
performance; performance on state assessments; student
demographics; and financial information.
In addition to student performance, attendance rates
and graduation rates from the 2007-2008 school year will
be used to determine if schools and districts met Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP). The federal law, No Child Left
Behind (NCLB), requires all states to measure each public
school’s and district’s achievements and
establish annual achievement targets for the state. The
overreaching goal is for all students to meet or exceed
standards in reading and mathematics by 2014.
In April, students in 11th grade take the Prairie State
Achievement Exam (PSAE), which tests students in math,
reading, science and writing.
|
