Tens of thousands of Illinois students—the most in recent history—sat out the state’s standardized exams during the past school year as resistance to testing gained momentum nationwide, new state data show.
Despite the significant number of students who refused the exam or were listed as absent on test days, however, state data show most schools and districts saw nearly all their students take the English and math tests from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
Some 44,000 missed the English/language arts component, and 42,000 didn’t take the math segment, representing about 4 percent of the more than 1 million students who were tested. That compares with about 0.5 percent of students who didn’t take state exams in 2014.
