Information on senior final exam exemption with regards to PSAE

Updated: May 16, 2008

At it's May 15, 2008 meeting, the Board of Education approved the Superintendent's recommendation to set aside the condition of passing the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) as stated in Board policy for the Class of 2008.

The Board also asked that its Policy Committee review Policy IKAA Student Final Examinations as it relates to IEP and ELL students, and bring additional information for discussion to the Board of Education.

Posted: May 8, 2008

District 211 Students and Parents of the Class of 2008:

Three students, along with the signatures and presence of many more, and one parent approached the Township High School District 211 Board of Education at its April 24, 2008, meeting to request a review of the Board policy requiring passage of the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) as a condition of exemption from second semester final exams as seniors.  Given the time frame of the review, it is necessary to respond to the requests in a timely manner. 

I wish to respond to the requests by beginning with a brief review of the history of second semester senior final exam exemptions and the rationale for making the PSAE one of the criteria.

The Board of Education, at its September 30, 1993 meeting, approved the following criteria to qualify a senior for an exemption from second semester final examinations:

1. Has at least a “C” average in the course,
2. Has less than six absences from the class,
3. Has never been truant from the class,
4. Has never been suspended from the class, and,
5. Is not incomplete on assignments required by the teacher.

That policy remains in effect and, in 2007, each high school had the following percentage of seniors take final examinations:

Senior students required to complete final exams return after graduation to complete the required tests and their diplomas are provided to them upon passing the examination(s) in question.  The concept of permitting the tests to be completed prior to the graduation ceremony, as proposed at the April 24 meeting, was attempted at a point in time in District 211, but significant test administration problems ensued and the practice was discontinued.  At present, we do not favor such a practice given the end-of-course testing practices of the District, the difficulty and cost of devising two equally challenging tests that would treat seniors and other students fairly, and the serious difficulty of administering tests in a separate setting while other members of the class are in the final days of test preparation.  Thus, the practice of requiring seniors who are required to take examinations to return after graduation when the examination is administered to all students remains in effect.

On March 23, 2006, the administration recommended adding passage of the PSAE to the criteria for examination exemptions.  The Board of Education approved the change.  The recommendation and Board action followed a lengthy discussion among the Administrative Council members along with survey results from 2,416 juniors (Class of 2007).  The survey results indicated that 45.5% of the respondents viewed inclusion of the requirement as a Very Important incentive to pass the PSAE while an additional 23.3% viewed it as Important. 

Given the importance of high academic achievement, the recommendation was forwarded by the Superintendent and was acted upon by the Board.  Board policy was updated to reflect the change.  Communication of that change in parent newsletters, student sign-off at the start of the second semester and discussions with principals cause me to believe that no student or parent should have been surprised at the requirement within the last several months.

However, I am unable to assure the Board that every student knew of the requirement prior to taking the PSAE in their junior year of high school.  Prior knowledge of the requirement is a reasonable expectation by students and parents.  It is my view that we did not meet that expectation.

In addition, we have long been on record about concerns with the structure and results of the PSAE.  We know, for example, that 440 students in the Class of 2008 achieved a score of 19 or higher on the ACT, but did not pass the PSAE.  (One student, for example, received a score of 29 and did not pass PSAE.)  An additional 160 students achieved an 18 on the ACT and did not pass the PSAE.  An ACT score of 19 is strong enough to gain entry into most Illinois regional public universities, and an 18 is strong enough to gain entry into at least one Illinois regional public university.

Because of the seeming disparity for so many of our students between their ACT scores of 18 or higher and their failure to pass the PSAE (600 students in total), along with a number of other concerns with the entire PSAE structure, it seems disingenuous for us to require passage of the PSAE as a condition of exemption from final examinations at this time.  Thus, I will be recommending to the Board of Education at its May 15, 2008 meeting that the requirement of passing the PSAE as a condition of final examination exemption be set aside.  All other conditions for exam exemption will remain in effect for the Class of 2008.

The May 15 recommendation will include a proposed letter to the Illinois State Board of Education requesting their expedited and focused review of our previously presented concerns with regards to the PSAE.

Roger Thornton
Superintendent