The waiver procedures further aggravate the discriminatory impact of the Policy. Disparate impact On information and belief, the above use of the ITBS results in educational decisions that have an adverse impact on African-American, Latino, and male students. Examples of the disparate impact of the Policy may be found in the some of the data on enrollment of African-American and Latino students in the Chicago Public Schools. For example, the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law has requested data on the CPS testing program under the Freedom of Information Act, but received an incomplete response. In July of 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a FOIA request including a request for ITBS pass rate data by racial and ethnic group, but still awaits disclosure of this public information.
Investigation is therefore essential.
This means that the test must be valid and reliable for the particular purpose used and consideration must be given to whether there are any practicable alternative practices that would effectively measure the knowledge and skills the district intend to measure with less adverse impact. CPS makes of it, while alternatives are available such as use of ITBS scores in combination with other factors, as recommended by the test publisher. The CPS waiver policy could offer an alternative practice, yet the CPS waiver policy is not standard or fair and when implemented at all it is implemented in the most arbitrary and capricious manner. In violation of this guideline and principle , LEP students in the CPS are given no accommodations. Other relevant information about the student's knowledge and skills should also be taken into account.