RESEARCH General Education

SCHOOLS
Study shows standards bringing positive results to Illinois schools

Craig Chamberlain, Education Editor
(217) 333-2894; cdchambe@uiuc.edu

10/1/02

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois schools that have moved to implement state learning standards are seeing higher test scores, more-focused instruction, and more equity in the classroom, according to the final report from a unique four-year study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

What’s more, standards are getting good reviews from educators. "People are growing more positive about standards, teachers are indicating more motivation to implement them," says Lizanne DeStefano, a professor of educational psychology at Illinois and co-principal investigator of the study.

That’s "kind of remarkable," DeStefano said, because a history of come-and-go reforms has taught educators to treat new initiatives with skepticism, thinking "this too shall pass."

The report, presented Sept. 18 to the Illinois State Board of Education, which funded the study, examined both the extent to which standards have been implemented and the resulting effects.

For the fourth year of the study, 2,642 teachers were surveyed in a random sample of 61 schools. Also, 137 principals were surveyed, and nine schools in six districts were chosen for intensive case study.

Researchers found that students attending schools with higher overall implementation of the Illinois Learning Standards scored higher on Illinois Student Achievement Tests (ISAT) for third grade reading as well as fifth and eighth grade math. Previous years of the study showed a positive trend toward higher test scores, but this was the first year the results were statistically significant, DeStefano said.

It’s a compliment to the state for "staying the course" on standards over five years, she said.

The study shows that "standards have brought a new focus and clarity to school improvement efforts," DeStefano said. "What our teachers and administrators tell us is that standards focus reform around the curriculum, around what’s being taught."

Just as important, DeStefano said, is the influence standards appear to be having in equalizing instruction. Teachers are "raising the bar" for students for whom they would have had lower expectations in the past, mindful that everyone must be taught to the standards, she said.

DeStefano noted among other findings that progress toward standards implementation appears to have stopped around level three of a five-level, study-designed scale. Many level-three schools feel as though they have gone as far they have to, she said, but the state will need to decide if it’s enough.
Educators also continue to question how well the ISAT represents the standards, DeStefano said. "There hasn’t been a clear demonstration of the link that’s credible to teachers and principals," she said.

The study may be the first to show a positive correlation between standards implementation and student achievement, DeStefano said. It also may be the first to look below the administrative level and ask teachers what they are doing related to standards in the classroom, she said.
Joining DeStefano as the other co-princial investigator was education professor Nona Prestine, formerly at Illinois and now at Penn State University. George Stanhope was the project director.