Despite so much lost classroom time in the last year, the State of Illinois is mandating schools still administer yearly standardized tests.

That is leaving Mahomet-Seymour Schools Superintendent Dr. Lindsey Hall frustrated. She says while it is nice to have the flexibility of giving the assessments in the spring or summer, she and her peers wonder why they are being required to give the assessments this year.

Dr. Hall believes there is not a valid reason to be giving assessments this year. She points to the fact schools are in a bind where they have to utilize the time they have more efficiently than in perhaps any other year before and does not believe giving these assessments is a good use of that time.

Many school leaders are raising questions about the data that could potentially come from the yearly assessments. Dr. Hall points to assessments given by her teachers that help them in a lot of aspects of the educational process and are given frequently.

Other administrators have pointed as well to the fact data from the assessments comes in so slowly, by the time they receive it, oftentimes students have moved to the next grade level or another school. 

Dr. Hall indicates the district is administering those tests this week and looks forward to when they get their students back in the fall, focusing on resuming learning and continuing to work on getting kids caught back up.