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In 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times conducted a study of the Illinois teachers, and in particular how they fared in the Basic Skills and Subject Matter tests. Following are the self-imposed guidelines established for their examinationt:
WHAT WE DID
September 6, 2001
The Chicago Sun-Times analyzed the pass-fail records for nearly 416,000 Basic Skills and subject matter tests taken by prospective educators between July 1988 and April 2001, as well as all available records on teaching assignments and certification for educators employed in Illinois public schools near the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year. Educators were not identified by name. The data were obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education after five months of Freedom of Information Act requests.
The analysis focused most heavily on the pass-fail records of 67,118 elementary, middle-junior high, high school and special education teachers who were employed in 2000-01 and tested during the past 13 years. Testing data were available for only about half of all current teachers; those certified prior to 1988 may never have been required to take a test. The Sun-Times also analyzed the raw scores of tests taken between July 1999 and January 2001, the only period for which such detailed data were available.
A small number of teachers were listed as working in more than one school or district, typically because they were employed by more than one school or district or because they had recently switched jobs. They were included in totals for each district in which they were listed, but were counted only once in statewide totals.
The number of pupils taught by teachers who had flunked at least one test was calculated by multiplying each of those teachers by the average third-grade, eighth-grade or high school class size at their schools, according to 2000 data. When a school average was not available, the state average for that grade was used. An average class size of 10 was used for each special education teacher.
It was assumed that each teacher taught only one class, except for high school teachers, who were assumed to have taught five classes each.
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