(White, 2021)

One of the standardized tests I have thought about the most the past few years is the Illinois Rules of the Road Test. This test is used for students to be able to get their Driver's Permit or Driver's License. Unlike many other standardized tests taken in school, there are no accomodations allowed for the test. As a Driver Ed teacher, I have seen many students struggle when getting to their Permit Test because they are so used to their accomodations. The test requires students to:

• Identify traffic signs by shape, color or symbol.
• Identify signals and pavement markings.
• Answer multiple-choice and true-or-false questions about traffic laws, safety rules, crash prevention and vehicle equipment.

In order for the student to receive their permit they must get an 80% on the written test which is comprised of Multiple Choice, True/False, and Matching questions. Over the past 5 years, the Illinois Secretary of State's office has created an online test for students to be able to take the test on a computer with their teacher. This has helped with test anxiety for students along with the longer wait times at the Secretary of State offices for the students first experience there also.

Although there are 2 other tests the students must complete to get their license, the vision test and driving test, we need to find a better way to help our special education students and our Multi-Language Learners to have more success on this test. The students also need to be able to pass the Driver Education class with the students being present for 30 hours of Driver Education Instruction. Should the Secretary of State office have the test available in multiple languages? Should there be other accomodations allowed so that students can get the test read allowed or be able to take in an alternate setting? Students who have these accomodations in their IEP can use them on almost every other test they take, but one test that helps them become more independent for themselves for their future, they cannot use those accomodations

There is one way to help our MLL/ESL students. They can study these basic Driver Education terms found at this website so they know the meaning of all of the different terms and phrases.

As I have have tried to set up our online curriculum, I have tried to create better assessments for the students to display their understanding of the material. Using different projects has really helped more students be successful, but we still need to keep our Multiple Choice, True/False, and Matching quizzes so the students can better be prepared for what they will see on the standardized test. The main objective for the Driver Education class is to have the students be able to get their licence and be safe drivers, so until the testing procedures are changed at the state level, we must still keep some of our in class assessments similar to the state tests.

References:

Beare, K. (2018, July 30). Key Vocabulary to Use at the DMV for English Learners. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/dmv-key-vocabulary-for-english-learners-1212320.

White, J. (2021, January 1). Illinois Rules of the Road 2021. Illinois Secretary of State. https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_a112.pdf.