April 5, 2011

Dear Junior Parents,

The Prairie State Exam, mandated by the State of Illinois, is the state assessment in Illinois to measure how well students are “mastering” the learner outcomes/standards that have been established by the Illinois State Board of Education. The Prairie State Exam is a requirement for graduation.

The first day of testing students will take the ACT Plus Writing which will include multiple choice English, mathematics, reading and science tests along with an essay writing test. This test may be used for college admissions.

The second day of testing, ACT developed WorkKeys tests, Applied Mathematics and Reading for information will measure the students in developed science, applied math, reading, and working keys for reading which will measure learning in our vocational areas.

Tuesday, April 26
“ANSWER SHEET DAY” for the juniors. Your son/daughter will be required to complete all necessary information on the answer sheet which will be used for Day 1 testing. This process will take approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Wednesday, April 27
Day 1 of Testing: All juniors will report to the field house or other designated location no later than 7:50 a.m. On this day all juniors will take the ACT Test. Juniors will be released to go home after the completion of the testing.

Thursday, April 28
Day 2 of Testing: All juniors will report to the field house or other designated location no later than 7:50 a.m. On this day all the juniors will take the Prairie State Exams. Once again, the Juniors are released to go home after testing.

Friday, April 29
The daily schedule at RCHS will return to normal for all juniors EXCEPT for the special needs students, who will still be taking exams in their designated areas. Their testing should be completed during the morning.

Students MUST be in attendance if they plan to attend PROM on Saturday, April 30. We appreciate your assistance in making testing week successful.

Sincerely,

Tim Ricketts
Principal
Reed-Custer High School