ISAT Results SPRINGFIELD, IL (wqub) - Illinois grade school students overall improved on their annual standardized exams. Those results were made public today. But as Amanda Vinicky reports ... some experts say that's because the tests are too simple.

The Illinois Standards Achievement Tests were given to third though eighth grade students this March and April. The tests are important because if students do poorly ... their districts can be penalized under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

According to the state board of education ... nearly 300 schools that had previously struggled to meet the benchmarks this time met the standards. The improvement means the districts are off a sort-of "academic watch."

But Jeff Kuhner says rather than celebrate ... lawmakers, teachers, parents and students should be wary.
Kuhner's with the Fordham Institute ... a think tank that analyzed Illinois' standardized tests compared with other states' exams.

Kuhner says Illinois' tests are some of the easiest in the country ... giving a false impression that students in Illinois are learning as much as their peers elsewhere.


"In the end, Illinois is going to be left behind. You are seeing already an academic gap forming between Illinois and some of the other, higher-performing, higher-standard states in the country."

Matt Vanover ... a spokesman for Illinois' Board of Education ... says the state's tests aren't getting worse.
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"We think that teachers are teaching and students are learning."

Officials with the board say they are in the midst of ensuring Illinois' tests meet with national norms.
I'm Amanda Vinicky.

Also ... scores fell statewide on the Prairie State Achievement Exams given to high school juniors. Officials with the board of education say they're concerned and will work to figure out why.

Other trends in Illinois education are increasing student enrollment ... including of minority and Hispanic students. There are also fewer school districts. Illinois now has 898 districts. That's 27 less than in 1998. Graduation rates are also up.
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