Each school needs to make decisions on their own based on what helps keep them competitive, attracts students and allows them to be successful," Rep. Steve McClure said. | Twitter
Each school needs to make decisions on their own based on what helps keep them competitive, attracts students and allows them to be successful," Rep. Steve McClure said. | Twitter
Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) recently spoke about a new law that took effect on Jan. 1 that will prohibit Illinois public universities from requiring standardized test scores for admissions.
The organization FairTest has created a list of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that have eliminated ACT or SAT score requirements. The number one reason schools gave for eliminating this requirement is the belief that those tests “favor students from privileged backgrounds.” The National Association for College Admission Counseling conducted a study and found that schools that don’t require standardized test scores have more “diversity," according to Test Prep Advisor.
"The decision should be made by universities," McClure said. "These schools are operating and competing in situations that involve schools across the country, and they have to be allowed to be competitive. Each school needs to make decisions on their own based on what helps keep them competitive, attracts students and allows them to be successful."
University of Illinois math professor Rochelle Gutierrez wrote an anthology for teachers in which she argued that math is racist, stating that mathematics runs on "whiteness", further explaining that “curricula emphasizing terms like Pythagorean theorem and pi perpetuate a perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans," according to the National Review.
McClure disagreed with Gutierrez's theory.
"I don’t think the test is racist," he said. "I know we have situations where some people are good test takers and others not as much. Unless there's some evidence of racism I think just to say something is racist for sake of it doesn't do the situation any good."
According to the latest data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the number of Illinois students in 3rd-11th grade who meet grade-level standards decreased by 18% in the last two years in math and by 17% in English. Among Chicago Public School 11th graders, only 23% met grade-level standards for reading and only 21% met grade-level standards for math. McClure believes taking away standardized testing could potentially be a cover-up for Illinois public education lacking quality.
"The problem we're seeing is some schools are doing fantastic and some are failing," McClure said. "Taking away standardized testing takes away the ability to determine what each school is doing."
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