FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2003
State Board of Education approves graduation and attendance
rate targets for Adequate Yearly Progress under federal No
Child Left Behind law
High schools would have to meet specific graduation rate
targets adopted April 30 by the State Board of Education as
one aspect of meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements
of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In addition,
elementary and middle schools would need to meet attendance
rate requirements as one aspect of meeting Adequate Yearly
Progress.
No Child Left Behind requires schools to have 95% test participation
and meet achievement targets as well as one additional academic
indicator in order to meet Adequate Yearly Progress criteria
under the law. The State Board previously adopted graduation
rate as the additional academic indicator for high schools
and attendance rate for elementary and middle schools.
In 2003, high schools would initially need to have a 65%
graduation rate. The required graduation rate for AYP would
increase gradually to reach the ultimate target of 85% by
2014, under the schedule adopted by the State Board.
Elementary and middle schools would need an attendance rate
of 88% in 2003, a target rate that would increase to 92% by
2014.
The State Board previously adopted achievement targets for
determining AYP that move from 40% meeting or exceeding standards
in reading and mathematics on the 2003 test to 100% meeting
or exceeding standards by 2014. Achievement targets would
apply, for reading and for mathematics, to the entire group
of students within a school as well as eight demographic groups
of students within the school. The same calculations will
also apply to districts.
The targets adopted by the State Board were recommended by
the Assessment and Accountability Task Force, which has been
studying various assessment and accountability issues since
being appointed by State Superintendent of Education Robert
E. Schiller in September 2002.
Additional Time for State Tests
The Task Force raised concerns that many students could not
complete Illinois Standards Achievement Tests within the allotted
time, suggesting that students be allowed additional time
to demonstrate fully their knowledge of the Illinois Learning
Standards. The State Board responded to this concern by proposing
to increase the time for each ISAT test by five minutes “if
that would not exceed the maximum amount specified in state
law for ISAT testing.”
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