Prairie State Achievement Examination

The Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) is a two-day standardized test taken by all High School Juniors in the U.S. state of Illinois. On the first day, students take the ACT, and on the second day, a WorkKeys examination and Illinois State Board of Education-developed science examination.cite web |url=http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/pdfs/psae_grad_guid_memo.pdf |title=Memorandum:2006-07 Guidance – Graduation and the Prairie State Achievement Examination |accessmonthday=April 20 |accessyear=2007 |author=Becky McCabe, Division Administrator, Student Assessment Division |date=August 21 2006 |format=PDF |publisher=Illinois State Board of Education] . It has been required for all Illinois High School Students since 2001.cite web |url=http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/psae_report.pdf |title=Understanding thePrairie State Achievement Exam |accessmonthday=April 20 |accessyear=2007 |author=Stephen M. Ponisciak |date=September 2005 |format=PDF |publisher=University of Chicago]

Areas of Assessment

The PSAE attempts to assess students on the following areascite web |url=http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/psae.htm |title=Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE)|accessmonthday=April 20 |accessyear=2007 |publisher=Illinois State Board of Education] :
*Math
*Reading
*Science
*Writing

Exemptions

General

A student is required to take the PSAE to achieve a high school diploma, unless he or she meets one of the following requirements:
*The student’s Individualized Education Program is incompatible with the PSAE, and the test cannot be modified to comply. In this case, the student takes the Illinois Alternate Assessment instead.
*The student not proficient in English. In this case the student takes the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English instead.
*The student is enrolled in an alternative Education program, including an adult education program, or high school equivalency certificates.

2006-2007 School Year

A student may be exempted from the 2006-2007 school year examination if he or she meets one of the following requirements:
*The student has taken the ACT after freshman year and achieved reportable scores.
*The student is a Senior and fulfils one of the following requirements:
**has taken alternative testing
**was eligible for a medical exemption during the 2005-2006 examination
**was incarcerated during both the 2006-2007 and 2005-2006 examinations.
**is a transfer student transferring after May 1, 2006.

References