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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December
17, 2002
State Board Sets Standards for Adequate Yearly
Progress Under Federal No Child Left Behind Law
State Superintendent Schiller’s Assessment and Accountability
Task Force recommended intermediate goals for determining
Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind
law, and the State Board of Education is scheduled to act
on the recommendation Thursday.
No Child Left Behind set a goal of having 100% of the nation’s
students meet state standards by the 2013-14 school year and
requires states to measure Adequate Yearly Progress of schools
toward reaching that goal. Schools would have to meet AYP
targets for their entire student population, as well as for
each of eight demographic groups of students in the school.
“We have a broad-based task force in place that’s
worked very hard to come up recommendations in a number of
areas,” said State Superintendent of Education Robert
E. Schiller. “This AYP recommendation combines our commitment
to rigorous standards and measured progress with a solid model
that sets out the timetable for complying with the achievement
requirements of the federal law.”
Using 2002 data from state tests, the State Board has determined
that the baseline for Illinois schools is 40 per cent meets
for both reading and mathematics. To reach 100 per cent in
12 years, the state has flexibility to set equal increments
for each year or establish longer increments with higher steps.
Recognizing that districts need time to integrate the Illinois
Learning Standards into all their classes, the Task Force
recommended that set at three-year intervals the first three
steps toward 100% meeting standards. Schools would therefore
make this portion of AYP if their student composite and subgroups
reached 50 per cent meeting in 2005, 60 per cent in 2008,
and then move from 60 per cent in 2010 to 100 per cent in
2014.
“This is a fair approach that sets forth high expectations
and a reasonable time-frame,” said Task Force co-chairman
Robert Nielsen, superintendent of Bloomington District 87.
“It will measure both progress and compliance with the
law.”
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