This spring, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) will replace the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test as the federally required assessment administered to all third through eighth grade students. Like PARCC, the IAR is aligned with the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics, and serves to measure students’ progress toward meeting those learning standards.

At the end of January, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) began sharing information and corresponding resources to support schools and districts in the administration of the IAR. The IAR is shorter in length than PARCC, and is composed of the same content, type of questions, and administration tools. Sample IAR questions are posted here, and testing times for each grade level and content area may be found here. Note that the Hawthorn School of Dual Language (grades 3,4,5), Hawthorn Elementary School North (grades 3 & 5), and Hawthorn Middle School South (grades 6,7,8) have been selected by ISBE to participate in field testing; students at these schools and grade levels will participate in an additional assessment unit in English language arts.

The IAR is scheduled for administration across the state in March and April. Students in Hawthorn District 73 participate during the month of April; each school is setting its own specific testing schedule that begins as early as April 2, 2019 and ends no later than April 26, 2019. As with PARCC, we expect to receive our students’ scores in the summer or early fall. At that time, our teams will begin to thoughtfully analyze the results. Pending a timeline from ISBE, we will prepare to share your child’s scores with you once our 2019-2020 school year begins.

ISBE uses students’ IAR scores as an accountability check for schools, and to help determine the allocation of resources across the state. In Hawthorn District 73, the IAR is one indication of how well our students are performing academically. We gather information about our students’ strengths and areas for growth, as well as their progress toward meeting learning standards, via a variety of assessment measures. We also consider our students’ proficiency in daily learning activities and classroom-based assessments to develop a more complete picture of each child’s academic skills. In addition, Hawthorn District #73 strongly values the growth and development of the whole child. Student attendance, participation in athletics and other extracurricular programs, involvement in the fine and performing arts, service-learning efforts, and other positive contributions to our school and district community are essential components of your child’s learning in District #73.
Letter to Parents about IAR in English dated March 15, 2019
Letter to Parents about IAR in Spanish dated March 15, 2019
Information about the future of the IAR may be found here.
Sample IAR questions may be accessed here (released items from previous assessments) and here (practice tests newly developed by ISBE).
Testing times for each grade level and content area may be found here.
IAR design information may be found here.
The impact of student participation in the IAR on each school’s ESSA designation is described here.

At Hawthorn, “Inspiring all students to embrace learning in an ever-changing world” is more than a motto. Our teachers and administrators are constantly striving to find ways to effectively reach each learner.  Staff development in differentiating instruction, implementation of the Response to Intervention model and engaging use of technology and 21st century tools are just some of the ways that we are working to address the needs of every child.

All students are unique, so how do we determine goals for each student? Achievement is ongoing — as students learn, the bar continues to move up. How do we account for that continuous learning as we quantify achievement?

Hawthorn has developed a definition and process for identifying achievement and how our classroom instruction is affecting achievement. It takes into account both externally driven assessments (that is, the state’s mandated PARCC testing results) as well as our own ongoing internal assessment resources (such as MAP testing data, local assessments or IEP goals).
  Each student is measured by what their data indicates they will most likely do at Hawthorn, and how they actually perform on our assessments.  This way, we can measure not only how well students are doing, but how well we are doing as an educational system.

As we talk about meeting District achievement goals, it is important to remember that our efforts at Hawthorn move beyond “meeting the goals.” It is true that measuring against goals is critical in order for us to determine where we succeed and where we need support. But our larger purpose takes us well beyond those benchmarks to ensure that all of our students not only have the basic skills and knowledge needed for success, but that they also reach their full potential as lifelong learners.