SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) today released the school-, district-, and state-level aggregate scores for the 2016 Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) on the ISBE website at www.isbe.net/ISA.

Overall, the statewide 2016 ISA results reflect a solid mastery of science in the “all students” groups in the fifth and eighth grades. Results are lower on the high school assessment. The results also show performance differences across student demographic groups similar to those on assessments in reading and mathematics, although performance in science is higher in general across the board.

The task of creating and implementing a federally required test in six months, in combination with the lack of a state budget for more than two years, greatly impacted the timeline for administering, scoring, and reporting the 2016 ISA. The lack of a state budget impeded ISBE’s ability to enter into contracts with vendors both to create and to score the test. Some schools and districts encountered administration obstacles that prohibited them from administering the 2016 ISA despite their dedication. Low participation rates in some schools and districts should not be interpreted as a lack of effort or diligence on their part.

“A high-quality science education equips students with skills such as inquiry and collaboration that are necessary for all careers, including those in STEM fields,” said State Superintendent Tony Smith, Ph.D. “Illinois is ahead of the curve in including science in our balanced accountability indicators. We sincerely appreciate Illinois’ educators and administrators for helping to make each year of the science assessment more successful than the last. While the timeline for releasing the scores has been unacceptable, we have received positive feedback on the test itself. Illinois is rich in educators with expertise and commitment to building the highest-quality science assessment possible. These experiences serve as a foundation from which Illinois can innovate in collaboration with practitioners in the field. ISBE and our partners will continue to improve the ISA testing platform and ultimately ensure all students build a comprehensive understanding of science.”

The ISA was designed to reflect classroom experiences. The ISA pushes students to apply their knowledge when they give answers, thus better preparing students for postsecondary and a career. The ISA aligns to the Illinois Learning Standards for science, which incorporate the national Next Generation Science Standards.

The test is untimed, but designed to take approximately one hour. Each student’s score between 200 and 400 correlates to one of two performance levels: Proficient or Not Proficient. The ISA yields data to help administrators and educators make broad adjustments to curriculum and instruction over time to better align with state standards. The results are not intended to support teaching decisions for individual students. The ISA also helps families understand how well their children are performing academically in science.

One year of results cannot fully explain the differences in performance at the different grade levels on the 2016 assessment. However, possible contributing factors could include systemic challenges moving to an integrated, standards-aligned curriculum at the high school level; the increased complexity of the analysis and synthesis required for students to solve problems at the high school level; possible differences in the tested pool of students; and the impact of known technical issues with the administration of the assessment.

ISBE worked with school districts in the time between the 2016 and 2017 ISA administrations to address technology issues, as well as improve the testing platform. The preliminary participation rate for the 2017 ISA shows a significant statewide increase from 93.1 percent to 95.9 percent. ISBE anticipates completing the scoring process for the 2017 ISA in time to release the results in February. Additional improvements are planned for the 2018 administration.

Neither the 2016 nor the 2017 ISA results will count toward accountability for schools and districts. The percentage of students scoring in the Proficient performance level will contribute 5 percent of each school and district’s balanced accountability rating beginning with the 2020 administration.

An FAQ with additional information about the ISA, the performance levels, and the process for scoring the assessment is available at www.isbe.net/Documents/2016-ISA-Results-FAQ.pdf.