Advance Illinois Statement: Shift from PARCC in High Schools is a Short-Term Solution

July 20, 2016: Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced that for the 2016-2017 school year, SAT would replace the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) for high school assessment.  This decision brings Illinois into compliance with federal law, provides certainty to school districts about the test they will use this spring and ensures that all students have access to a free college entrance exam.  ISBE has stated that students in grades 3-8 will continue to take the PARCC assessment, which is aligned with Illinois Learning Standards and the Common Core.

Advance Illinois’ goal is to ensure that high school assessments help demonstrate whether students are on track for college and career. While the SAT has taken steps to align with the Common Core, we do not yet know precisely how or if the SAT will meet the longer-term needs of a high school assessment:  to show student academic growth, inform instruction and provide for college placement. We will continue to focus on these issues as we work with the state to implement provisions of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2017.