Gov. Blagojevich Announces Free College Prep Testing Program for High School Freshmen and Sophomores

New Tools to Help School Districts Improve Academic Performance and Help Students Prepare for College

[January 17, 2008]  SPRINGFIELD -- On Tuesday, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced the launch of a new voluntary testing program aimed at improving student achievement at the high school level. The Illinois State Board of Education is launching a new program that allows all interested public school districts to test freshmen and sophomores with the EXPLORE and PLAN ACT pretests. The voluntary program will provide schools with valuable testing information to monitor student achievement in high schools where currently only juniors are tested. The State Board of Education is making the program available to public school districts at no charge.

"This program will give schools the opportunity to gauge the educational progress of their freshman and sophomores as they prepare to take college entrance exams their junior year," said Blagojevich. "School districts and students alike will benefit from the kind of information these tests provide -- from curriculum decisions inside the classroom to college and career preparation beyond high school."

The tests are part of the ACT Corporation's Educational Planning and Assessment System, which consists of three testing programs: EXPLORE for eighth and ninth grades, PLAN for 10th grade, and the ACT test for 11th and 12th grades. Illinois' juniors already take the ACT test as part of the statewide Prairie State Achievement Exam, which is given each spring.

"By using the EXPLORE and PLAN assessments, school districts will no longer have the two-year gap in testing data between the ISAT in the eighth grade and the PSAE in the 11th grade," said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. "I want to thank Governor Blagojevich and the members of the General Assembly for supplying us with the necessary funding to initiate this program. We need to be able to provide students, teachers and administrators with this type of high-quality information in order for them to be able to make sound decisions about future steps."

Included with the EXPLORE and PLAN programs for all public high schools will be a state license for ACT Online Prep. The ACT Online Prep provides easy access to practice tests with real ACT questions; comprehensive content review of ACT English, math, reading and science; practice essays for the ACT writing test; and a diagnostic test that will provide students with a personalized study path to help them better prepare for the ACT test.

The EXPLORE assessment is designed to help prepare ninth-graders for their high school course work and post-high school choices. It contains four curriculum-based tests: English, mathematics, reading and science. The results from EXPLORE can also be used to help students make adjustments in their course work to help ensure that they are prepared for what they want to do in and after high school. In addition, a portion of the test helps measure a student's personal career choices.

The PLAN assessment helps students explore career preparation and training options, as well as prepare students for success on the ACT test. The PLAN assessment also contains four curriculum-based tests: English, mathematics, reading and science. The results from PLAN can be used to help students make adjustments in their course work to help ensure that they are prepared for what they want to do after high school.

Public school districts that have already placed their orders or completed the testing in the 2007-08 school year will be eligible for reimbursement.

This new program continues the work of the governor and State Board of Education in focusing on postsecondary education and work force preparation. Blagojevich successfully led the effort to increase Illinois' high school graduation requirements for the first time in more than 20 years and has supported policies leading to increased rigor at our high schools, as well as better addressing the linkage between secondary and higher education. The governor and the State Board of Education have also created the College and Work Readiness Partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other partners, to review existing policies and programs to improve student success after graduation. The State Board of Education has set better preparation of students for success after graduation as one of its top issues.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]