Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law that allows prospective teachers to student teach before passing their required educator content exam. The new law also allows for the retaking of only the subsections of the test that were failed previously (instead of retaking the whole exam).
One prominent supporter of House Bill 5057, State Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), told West40 in May that "the changes made will help put more teachers in classrooms and take down barriers to finding new teachers."
The issue of educator content exams has stirred strong emotions throughout Illinois, as West40 has heard from prospective and new educators who described the difficulty of preparing for the exams and exam questions that do not appear to be relevant to what they expect to teach in a classroom.
A West40 analysis of public records showed low passing ratios on certain content exams, including Mathematics, Early Childhood Education, and Elementary Education (Grades 1-6), for examinees on their first attempt. The results only slightly improve after cumulative attempts.
State lawmakers approved HB5057 in May and the governor signed it into law in early August.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) previously said it works with colleges and universities to make sure educator preparation programs (EPPS) are aligned with the standards upon which content exam test items are developed and these standards are the same as what EPPs are required to use to develop their programs.
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