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| PSAE |
Prairie State Achievement Examination
The Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) measures student achievement at the high
school level relative to the Illinois Learning Standards. The results give parents, teachers, and
schools one measure of assessing student learning and school performance. Results are used by
the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to measure school and district adequate yearly
progress (AYP) as required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Results are also used by
Chicago Public Schools to measure school progress under the district Performance
Policy. Additionally, the PSAE is a requirement for a regular high school
diploma.
PSAE is comprised of the ACT Plus Writing, WorkKeys tests in reading and mathematics, and a
science test developed by the Illinois State Board of Education with the assistance of Illinois
teachers. Grade 11 students must take PSAE as part of the graduation requirement in order to
receive a regular high school diploma. In 2009-2010, Grade 12 students that did not take the
PSAE in grade 11 may test in the spring with grade 11 students.
For additional information on PSAE, visit the
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
website.
English Language Learners (ELLs) and the PSAE
With the exception of some with significant cognitive disabilities that will take the
Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA),
ALL
students enrolled in a high school program operated by a public school district and
classified at the time of testing as being in grade 11
must take the PSAE,
including LEP students. This includes students who have been in a state-approved
Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program or Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) for
more than five academic years
and students who have been in a TBE or TPI program for
five or fewer years
. It also includes LEP students who are not being served in a state-approved bilingual
education program. With the possible exception of PSAE Writing, grade 11 LEP students take
the PSAE
in addition to the ACCESS tests in reading, writing, speaking and listening. More
information about this exception may be found in the document titled
Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners - Guidance for 2009,
which is available online at
www.isbe.net/assessment or is attached
below.
LEP students who have been eligible for a TBE or TPI program for
five or fewer years
may utilize the following State-allowed accommodations on the PSAE: extended time, oral
presentation, or the new Spanish video DVD format of the mathematics and science
tests. School personnel decide whether and how much extended time and whether oral
presentation or the new Spanish format is to be provided for a student. The maximum time
allowed for any one test is three hours, and oral presentation is to be provided using one of the
following: reader script, audiocassettes, or audio/video DVDs. The new Spanish format for
mathematics and science is available as a video DVD only. More details about the new Spanish
format can be found posted on the ISBE website at
www.isbe.net/assessment/SpDVD.htm or in
the attached documents below.
As with accommodations test materials for students with IEPs or Section 504 Plans,
accommodations materials for LEP students
must be requested by the deadlines listed in the
Spring 2010 PSAE Accommodations Checklist of Dates document attached below.
ELL/LEP Resources: Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners - Guidance for 2009
2009-2010 PSAE Testing Window
The 2009-2010 PSAT test dates have been confirmed. The standard-time PSAE will be
administered on April 28-29, 2010 to grade 11 and eligible grade 12 students. The
accommodations test window will run from April 28-May 12, 2010 for Day 1 tests and and April
29-May 13, 2010 for Day 2 tests. Make-up testing will take place on May 12-13, 2010.
2009-2010 Grade 12 Fall Retake
ISBE has discontinued the Grade 12 Fall PSAE Retake and ACT vouchers for national test
dates. Accordingly, the acceptable proof that a student has taken the PSAE in order to
fulfill the high school diploma requirement has changed. Refer to the following memorandum
from ISBE for further details:
http://www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/PSAE_guidance.pdf
2009-2010 PSAE In-Service
The Department of Student Assessment will offer two in-service sessions on the Prairie
State Achievement Examination (PSAE) in the Spring of 2010. Each in-service session will last
approximately two hours and will cover important information on administration and other procedures
for the 2009 PSAE administration. PSAE testing supervisors who have already attended an ISBE
training session on PSAE are not required to attend, although it is encouraged. CPS-specific
issues will be covered.
Further details will follow.
Ordering 2010 Materials
Schools order 2010 PSAE Day 2 standard time and accommodation test materials by logging
into Pearson’s PSAE TestSites Online website at
http://www.ncsschoolhouse.com. For assistance
with the website, contact Pearson at 1-800-553-2159 between 7:00 am and 5:30 pm central time. A
user ID and password were sent to principals only in late October 2009. Lost user IDs or passwords
may be requested by contacting Pearson or ACT at
PSAE@act.org.
Deadlines for ordering 2010 Day 1 and 2 standard time and accommodations materials can be
found in the attached
Spring 2010 PSAE
Checklist of Dates
and
Spring 2010 PSAE Accommodations Checklist of Dates
documents below.
WorkKeys
WorkKeys is a standardized job skills assessment system developed by ACT that measures job
applicants’ applied skills with real world tasks that are common in the workplace.
Two WorkKeys assessments -
Reading for Information and
Applied Mathematics - comprise part of the PSAE Day 2 test administration.
The WorkKeys
Reading for Information test measures the skill people use when they
read and use written text in order to do a job. The written texts include memos, letters,
directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations. The WorkKeys
Applied Mathematics assessment measures the skills people use when they work with
workplace graphics. Examinees are asked to find information in a graphic or insert information into
a graphic, as well as compare, summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics.
In 2008-09, CPS offered a third WorkKeys assessment -
Locating Information - as an option to grade 12 students. The
assessment measures the skills people use when they work with workplace graphics. Examinees are
asked to find information in a graphic or insert information into a graphic, as well as compare,
summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics. Combined with the WorkKeys
Reading for Information and
Applied Mathematics, taking this third WorkKeys test allows grade 12 students to earn a
National Career Readiness Certificate, which demonstrates a certain skill level to potential
employers.
WorkKeys
Locating Information will not be offered in 2009-2010.
2009-2010 CPS Communication and Training Materials
2009-2010 ISBE and ACT Communication and Testing Resources
Resources for Interpreting PSAE Data
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