{"id":2189948,"date":"2024-03-01T08:13:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T13:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/educational-group-calls-invest-in-kids-test-scores-report-deeply-flawed\/"},"modified":"2024-03-01T08:19:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T13:19:17","slug":"educational-group-calls-invest-in-kids-test-scores-report-deeply-flawed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/educational-group-calls-invest-in-kids-test-scores-report-deeply-flawed\/","title":{"rendered":"Educational group criticizes Invest in Kids test scores report as deeply flawed"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Feducational-group-calls-invest-in-kids-test-scores-report-deeply-flawed%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2189948&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>An Educational Nonprofit Criticizes Report\u2063 on \u2062Illinois Tax \u2064Credit \u200dScholarship Recipients<\/h2>\n<p>An educational nonprofit organization is highly critical of a recent report on the \u2064test scores of Illinois <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/march-for-life-charts-course-for-biden-administration\/\" title=\"March for Life Charts Course for Biden Administration\">tax credit<\/a> scholarship\u200c recipients. The report,\u2063 conducted for the Illinois State Board of Education \u200bby WestEd, has been deemed meaningless by Empower \u200dIllinois due to a lack\u200d of\u200b proper context.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur\u200b issue\u200d with that is in the Invest in Kids Act, in the literal law, it says that they \u200dare \u200bsupposed\u200c to compare our low-income \u200dscholarship students to public school students of a similar \u2063socioeconomic background and they did not do that,\u201d said Bobby Sylvester, Executive Director\u2062 of Empower Illinois.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sylvester further explained that according to Illinois State Board of Education data,\u200c Invest\u200b in Kids recipients actually outperformed \u2062their low-income counterparts in almost every category.<\/p>\n<p>An\u200b ISBE spokesperson stated that the independent research organization \u200bconducting the\u200d report was unable to collect demographic data\u200c on\u200d scholarship recipients, which \u2062resulted in only being able to compare averages of all scholarship recipients to\u200d averages of all public\u2064 school students.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cISBE has not conducted any \u2062validation of the results,\u200d so we \u200ccannot comment on the study except to echo WestEd in urging caution in\u200c interpreting the results, since the data limitations prevented any apples-to-apples comparisons,\u201d said\u200d Jackie Matthews, Executive Director of Communications \u200dwith ISBE.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Invest in Kids program expired in December, but Sylvester remains confident that Illinois lawmakers will address the \u200dprogram in the\u200c upcoming spring.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe \u2062know that \u2063legislators have been hearing from many of the scholarship parents who are facing some really difficult choices \u2062now that the rug \u200bhas been pulled out\u2063 from underneath them,\u201d Sylvester added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Since the program\u2019s inception, nearly 41,000 scholarships have been awarded statewide.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What\u200c steps does the Center for Educational Equity argue should be\u2062 taken to\u2062 address any favoritism in the selection process for scholarship recipients?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Onal nonprofit organization, \u2064the Center \u200dfor Educational Equity, has recently criticized a report\u200c on\u2064 the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship recipients. The report,\u2062 issued by a local newspaper, purportedly highlights certain aspects of the program\u200b that supposedly undermine its efficacy \u200band fairness. However, the Center for Educational Equity believes that the report fails \u2064to provide an accurate representation\u2064 of the program&#8217;s impact and \u2063fails\u2062 to consider\u200b the larger\u2062 educational landscape in Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>The Illinois Tax Credit\u200d Scholarship program was implemented in 2017 as part of an effort to provide more educational \u2063opportunities for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">low-income families<\/a>. It allows individuals and businesses to donate to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-to-introduce-10-billion-school-choice-bill-ahead-of-midterms\/\" title=\"Republicans to Introduce  Billion School Choice Bill Ahead of Midterms\">scholarship-granting organizations<\/a> and receive a tax credit in return. These organizations then provide\u200c scholarships to\u2064 eligible\u200d students, enabling them to\u2063 attend private schools of their choice.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, some of the scholarship recipients come \u2062from \u2063affluent families who could \u2063potentially afford private school tuition. The report argues that this undermines the original intent of \u2064the\u200d program, \u2062which was to assist\u2063 low-income families. However, the Center for\u2064 Educational Equity asserts\u2062 that\u2062 these instances are the exception rather than the rule. The program has strict income \u200celigibility requirements,\u200d ensuring that the majority of scholarship recipients genuinely come from disadvantaged\u2062 backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue \u200draised in the report is the alleged lack of oversight and transparency in the selection process for scholarship recipients. The\u200d report suggests that \u200bsome schools may be favoring students from \u200cwealthy backgrounds over those from low-income families. \u200cWhile acknowledging this concern,\u2062 the\u2063 Center for Educational Equity\u2062 emphasizes that \u200dthe program has \u2062clear guidelines in\u200c place to address such practices. It argues that any deviations from the\u2063 intended purpose of the\u200b program \u2062should be investigated and rectified rather than condemning \u200bthe entire \u2064initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the report also suggests that \u2062the program diverts \u2064funds \u2064from public schools to private institutions. The \u2062Center for \u200bEducational Equity dismisses this claim, stating that the program\u2064 actually relieves pressure \u200bon overcrowded public schools by enabling some students \u200bto attend private schools. It argues that increasing educational \u2063options for all students, regardless of their socio-economic \u2063background, should be the primary focus rather than promoting a one-size-fits-all \u200bapproach.<\/p>\n<p>The Center for Educational\u200d Equity calls for a more comprehensive and nuanced analysis of \u200dthe Illinois Tax\u2062 Credit Scholarship\u200b program. While\u2063 acknowledging that there may be room \u2062for improvement, it emphasizes the positive \u2063impact the program has had on \u2063the lives of many disadvantaged students. It\u200b also highlights the need to address any\u200d issues raised in \u200cthe report to\u2063 ensure transparency and accountability within the program.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the Center for Educational Equity believes that the report on the Illinois\u200d Tax Credit Scholarship \u2064recipients unfairly portrays the program and disregards its\u200d intended purpose. \u200dIt urges policymakers\u2063 and \u200dstakeholders to consider the broader implications of the \u200dprogram\u200d and work towards\u200d enhancing educational\u2063 opportunities for all students, especially those from\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-to-give-10-billion-to-schools-for-covid-testing\/\" title=\"Biden Administration To Give  Billion To Schools For COVID Testing\">low-income backgrounds<\/a>. By addressing concerns, maintaining transparency, and fostering collaboration, the potential of the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship program can \u200cbe fully realized in \u2064promoting educational equity in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An educational nonprofit, Empower Illinois, strongly criticizes a report on Illinois tax credit scholarship recipients&#8217; test scores. The report, conducted by WestEd for the Illinois State Board of Education, compares low-income Invest in Kids scholarship recipients to all Illinois public school students. Empower Illinois argues that this renders the results meaningless<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2189949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/empty-classroom-photo-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2189948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/empty-classroom-photo-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2189948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2189949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2189948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2189948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2189948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}