Chicago City Wire

Chicago GOP Chairman Chris Cleveland criticized the recently enacted law which prohibits Illinois public universities to require proof of test scores for admission considerations. The rule went into effect Jan. 1.

“A standardized test score is the opposite of racist,” Cleveland states. “It's an objective measure.”

The concerns derived from an anthology written by a University of Illinois math professor for teachers, arguing that the subject is racist, stating “mathematics itself operates as Whiteness.”

The organization FairTest counted more than 1,000 institutions that have eliminated ACT or SAT scores from their list of requirements. Most of them chose their reason for opting out to be a pattern of favoritism toward “students from privileged backgrounds.”

According to a recent National Association for College Admission Counseling study, schools that have removed the test mandate show signs of increased “diversity,” National Review reported. 

According to the latest data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the number of students in grades 3-11 who have reached grade-level testing standards have decreased by 18% in math and by 17% in English. Among Chicago Public School 11th graders, only 23% met grade-level standards for reading, while only 21% met grade-level standards for math.

Chicago Public Schools' spring exam scores fell across all grades, especially the youngest test-takers, according to the new school-by-school and district-level data released by the Illinois State Board of Education.  Approximately 18% of third graders met or exceeded standards in English and math this year, compared to 2019 when 39.4% were proficient in English and 32.9% in math. No standardized exams were recorded in 2020 amid pauses caused by the pandemic, WBEZ reported.

The scores also dropped on a state-scale, recording 18% fewer students meeting grade-level standards from third through 11th grade. Nearly 17% fewer students performed at grade level than two years ago. Black, Latino and low-income students presented the largest academic losses on a general nationwide level. The majority of students, at 90%, prepare to take such tests during the spring. Data for the remaining schools that tested this fall is projected to become available in April.

“If public universities want to recruit more disadvantaged minorities, they should get involved in the high schools,” Cleveland continued. “They should encourage school choice, which will raise the quality of high schools generally.”