Illinois Approves Redesigned Elementary Education Content Test

Prospective elementary school teachers in Illinois will begin taking a redesigned licensing exam on July 1 that breaks the test into sections and allows them to retake only the portions they did not pass. 

The Illinois State Board of Education approved cut scores for the new Elementary Education content exam at its May 13 meeting. The exam will use a new “testlet” structure that separates subjects like literacy, math, and science into smaller sections. 

ISBE officials said this work is part of a broader redesign of Illinois licensure content tests.

The change could help ease frustrations about the content exam system raised by new and prospective teachers, education administrators, and lawmakers.

West40 analyzed public records in 2024 and found low first-attempt passing rates on several educator content exams, including Elementary Education. Teaching candidates have voiced concerns about spending hundreds of dollars retaking content exams and also not knowing which questions they answered incorrectly.

According to ISBE, the new testlets will be administered and scored separately and candidates have the flexibility to take the entire assessment at once or take individual testlets. A test taker must complete all testlets and meet a minimum score on each to pass the exam. Additionally, test takers can bank their testlet scores as they attempt to meet the minimum floor on each assessment and they may retake any testlet of their choosing.

Passing a content exam is usually the final part of the process required to become an official teacher in Illinois. Teaching candidates typically take the test after completing four years of higher education, earning recommendation letters, and finishing their student teaching.

Each testlet will cost $25. This means candidates can retake a section for considerably less money than paying about $100 to take the full exam under the previous structure.

Dr. Kyle Thompson, pictured in 2024

Dr. Kyle Thompson, Regional Superintendent of Regional Office of Education #11 in Charleston, previously called for the content exam system to be reevaluated after seeing prospective teachers become discouraged at a time when Illinois needs educators.

“Nobody wants the standards to be lowered, but these tests have kept good, competent educators from teaching in classrooms,” said Thompson. “As opposed to paying $100 to retake an entire exam, paying $25 to only retake a portion makes sense. We have to get our good teachers into the classroom, not keep them out due to bureaucratic testing mandates.”

The new Elementary Education exam was developed in response to a 2024 law aimed at improving literacy through elements of bilingualism, biliteracy, oral language development, foundational literacy skills, and developmentally appropriate higher order comprehension.

ISBE said because the testlet is a new assessment structure, the results should not be compared with cut scores from the previous test structure. (A licensure exam cut score is the minimum score a person must earn to pass the test.)

Additionally, ISBE said educator preparation programs may strategically align their programs with testlet subjects to allow candidates to take the associated testlet upon completion of program coursework, thereby creating better connections among learning, assessment, and feedback.