More state gamesmanship - less education

This Week in Education's Alexander Russo outlines his read of a Chicago Tribune exclusive report:

Illinois Goes For Broke On AYP Avoidance Strategies

Apparently not content with being the last state in the nation to turn around its 2006 test scores (they came out at roughly the same time that kids were taking the 2007 tests), Illinois has made the news again for jimmying with student eligibility criteria in ways that generally help schools pass AYP (State uses test loophole). No, it's not the subgroup size loophole -- that's so 2006. It's the date of enrollment loophole, which Illinois moved back to May 1 of the PREVIOUS year.

Nice.

Result? Thirteen percent of scores not counted, or 283K kids (one in four African-American kids), 53 schools made AYP that otherwise wouldn't have.

See the Chicago Tribune story:

State uses test loophole

Relaxed rule lets schools dodge failure list

More than 13 percent of the math and reading tests taken by Illinois students last year were not counted under the No Child Left Behind law, more than three times the percentage exempted the previous year, according to a Tribune analysis of state data.

The federal reform is based on the premise that every child can pass state math and reading exams if given access to a good school. But more than 283,000 exams were discounted. Low-income and minority students, whom the law was designed to help, were the most likely to see their scores negated, according to the analysis of recently released 2006 school report card data.

The dramatic increase can be tied to the state's decision to relax a little-noticed provision of the federal law.Under the reform, schools are judged only on the scores of students enrolled for a "full academic year." Each state is allowed to determine what constitutes a full year.

Until last year, Illinois schools were responsible only for students enrolled by Oct. 1 of that school year.Now, students must be enrolled by May 1 of the previous school year for their score to count under the federal law.

The relaxation of the rules helped 53 schools, including 28 in Chicago, escape the federal failing schools list. Schools that land on the roster face a series of escalating sanctions, including allowing students to transfer to better campuses and offering free tutoring to those who remain.