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In compliance with federal testing requirements, Illinois will administer a science assessment to students enrolled in a public school district in grades 5 & 8. The assessment will be administered in an online format and is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for Science incorporating the Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS), which were adopted in 2014.

This Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) page will be updated as information becomes available. Students who participate in the DLM alternate assessment will be assessed in science in grades 5 & 8 by the DLM-AA. Students taking the DLM-AA will not take the ISA exam. The ISA is not an alternate assessment.

New, Unified Performance Levels and Right-Sized Proficiency Benchmarks for IAR, ISA, and ACT

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has adopted new, research-informed, and right-sized assessment performance levels to give students, families, and educators better data on academic achievement and college readiness. Prior performance levels mislabeled many students in elementary and high school, often indicating that students were less academically successful and prepared for college than they actually were. The new, unified levels correct long-standing misalignment between Illinois’ state assessments and other real college and career readiness expectations.

​ISA Testing Information

2025-26 ISA Testing Window

  • March 2 - April 30, 2026
ISA Practice Tests are availible on the QuISBE practice exam platform.
To gain access to QuISBE, please fill out the QuISBE Participation SY2025-26 form.
Pearson will provide further access instructions after the participation form is submitted.
(Note: QuISBE is not the testing platform for the summative ISA exam)
Test-Nav practice items and The Student Readiness Tool are now available on the Pearson support page.​
Test-Nav interaction practice items help students become familiar with the several types of question interactions used on the Test Nav 8 platform.
The Student Readiness Tool allows students to practice interacting with the Test-Nav platform including moving from question to question, reviewing and bookmarking questions, and submitting test answers.

Adminstration and Test Coordinator Manuals, Irregularrity/Security Breach, Emergency Accomodations forms, and other resources can be found at this link: ISA Forms and Additional Resources​

ISA Test Administration and Data

ISA test management resources & data can be found on the new Illinois Administrative Platform powered by ADAM.

Resources and Documents

Resources

Documents

News and Updates

Assessment Technology Requirements

*Google is discontinuing support for native, legacy Chrome Apps. In response to this change, TestNav will retire the legacy TestNav Chrome App.

Pearson has updated the TestNav system requirements for the 2025-2026 school year. Please review the technical bulletins and system requirement pages below to ensure your school devices are ready for the spring administration.

Schools will be required to use the new TestNav Web App for ChromeOS. The old TestNav app must be uninstalled and then the new app needs to be installed prior to Spring 2026 testing.

Presentations & Webinars

Illinois Science Assessment Results

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

No data due to ​test cancellation.

2019

2018

2017

2016

  • 2016 State, District & School Performance ResultsExcel Document
  • 2016 State, District & School Mean Scale ScoresExcel Document
  • 2016 State, District & School Participation RatesExcel Document
    • The 2016 assessment window opened on May 1, 2016, giving some districts limited time to administer the assessment before the conclusion of the school year. In addition, schools that utilized devices running Apple iOS operating systems experienced significant technology issues that required converting to a paper administration. In some places, paper materials did not arrive in time for students to take the assessment before the school year ended. Low participation rates in some schools and districts should not be interpreted as a lack of effort or diligence on their part in light of the obstacles some faced.​​​​​​

QuISBE Practice Test Platform
The QuISBE Practice Test Platform is Now Open

To gain access to QuISBE, please fill out the QuISBE Participation SY2025-26 form​.  
Pearson will provide further access instructions after the participation form is submitted.
(Note: QuISBE is not the testing platform for the summative ISA exam)
Pearson will provide further access instructions after the participation form is submitted.

* * * This page has been archived. The content on this page may no longer be in effect. * * *

Contact Information