Bill Text: IL HR0568 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the public universities in Illinois to examine the use of standardized testing in their admissions processes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HR0568 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0568-Introduced.html
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives call upon the public
universities in Illinois | ||||||
4 | to study the usefulness and fairness of standardized tests in | ||||||
5 | their
admission processes; and
| ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, The ultimate goal of analyzing the use of | ||||||
7 | standardized testing in higher
education is to move to a | ||||||
8 | test-optional admittance process; and
| ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, There are clear benefits to standardized testing | ||||||
10 | merely being an optional
step in the admission process, one of | ||||||
11 | which is increased diversity; low income students
typically | ||||||
12 | score lower than their more affluent peers, putting them at a | ||||||
13 | disadvantage in the
admissions process; in 2016, the average | ||||||
14 | ACT composite score for a high-income
student was 23.6, while | ||||||
15 | the average composite score for low income students was 19.5; | ||||||
16 | and
| ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, After the University of Chicago made the decision | ||||||
18 | to go test-optional, the
university reported record | ||||||
19 | enrollments of first-generation, low-income, and rural
| ||||||
20 | students; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Public universities in Illinois making the choice |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | to go test-optional would not
be unique; currently, one in four | ||||||
2 | institutions of higher education no longer require a
| ||||||
3 | standardized test score for admittance, and, in the last year | ||||||
4 | alone, 41 schools have
eliminated their standardized testing | ||||||
5 | requirement; and
| ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, A university moving to a test-optional admittance | ||||||
7 | process is not at all
synonymous with a university abandoning | ||||||
8 | its prestige, as the standards for admittance
would simply be | ||||||
9 | shifted to the students' GPA, extracurricular activities, and | ||||||
10 | references; a standardized test is not the only way to measure | ||||||
11 | a student's potential; the choice to
eliminate mandatory | ||||||
12 | standardized testing from admittance processes can lead to a
| ||||||
13 | larger applicant pool for universities, thus creating a | ||||||
14 | stronger student body; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, The test-optional switch will be
extremely | ||||||
16 | beneficial to the low-income students of Illinois who have | ||||||
17 | hopes of attending one
of the State's exceptional public | ||||||
18 | universities; therefore, be it
| ||||||
19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | we urge the public universities in Illinois to examine the use | ||||||
22 | of standardized testing in their
admissions processes; and be | ||||||
23 | it further
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | delivered to all the public universities in Illinois.
|