In school districts throughout Illinois, the advent of March signifies not just the coming of spring, but the time when third through eighth grade students participate in the annual rite of passage provided by the state, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT).Like thousands of students before them, the young boys and girls sharpen their #2 pencils, reach for their scratch paper, and answer questions in reading, mathematics and science.

Schools will begin receiving the results in August and September, with parents and students receiving the data a month or so later.

The ISAT is a summative assessment, one that ranks our children by what they know and are able to do in March of a particular year. This year, 20 percent of the test content was based upon the new Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English-language arts.