Illinois Legislature Passes ‘Too Young to Test’ Act

The “Too Young to Test” act safeguards grades PreK to 2nd from state testing in Illinois. The state’s legislature passed the bill on April 11, 2022. Now young children will be protected from current or future standardized testing.

Now the bill will go to Governor JB Pritzker to be signed. The Too Young to Test act received broad and bipartisan support from a coalition of Illinois parents, educators, researchers, advocacy organizations, and legislators.

The state will be unable of requiring or paying for any non-diagnostic standardized testing for students before the third grade.

The chief co-sponsor, State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas, stated, “Too Young To Test [wants] to safeguard the early years by ensuring that the Illinois State Board of Education does not spend…resources or require standardized assessments in K-2.” Tests “that have been proven to be developmentally inappropriate during such a fluid time of child development.”  Illinois “should invest in research-based practices that support whole child development such as” social-emotional skill building, play-based learning, and teacher coaching. She added, “Especially after the unprecedented disruptions of these last two years, we cannot forget that the same part of the brain that registers stress and trauma is also responsible for memory and learning.”

House Representative Lindsey LaPointe said that decisions about Illinois’ “standardized testing should reflect evidence-based research and provide reliable data.” She added that institutes should not “focus on unreliable standardized tests for children too young will change the focus of classroom instruction and create further inequity.” She continued on by saying the state needed “to direct our education resources and energy toward proven strategies that enrich the classroom experience for our youngest learners.”

Early childhood researchers, teachers, and assessment experts all agree that test scores for children under the age of eight are not statistically reliable. Nor are they a valid measure of what children know, can do, and should not be used to assess school performance or assess academic.

The Too Young to Test act would not restrict the ability of districts, schools, and teachers to use or develop assessments paid for with local funding dollars. It also does not stop the state from creating or funding tests or evaluations used for screening or diagnostic purposes.

Too Young to Test was supported by a broad coalition of organizations, including the Chicago Teachers Union, Defending the Early Years, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois School Counselor Association, Learning Disabilities Association of IL, and the National Association of Social Workers – Illinois Chapter.

Written by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Press Release: IL LEGISLATURE PASSES ‘TOO YOUNG TO TEST’ ACT

Wand: ‘Too Young to Test’ bill moves to House for approval; by Alyssa Patrick

CBS: ‘Too Young to Test’ bill passed by Illinois House; by Demetrios Sanders

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