215 ILCS 5/500-50
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 215 - INSURANCE|215 ILCS 5/ - Illinois Insurance Code.|Article XXXI - Insurance Producers, Limited Insurance Representatives And Registered Firms

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)Sec. 500-50. Insurance producers; examination statistics.(a) The use of examinations for the purpose of determining qualifications of  persons  to be licensed as insurance producers has a direct and far-reaching effect on  persons seeking  those licenses, on insurance companies, and on the public. It is in the public  interest and it will  further the public welfare to insure that examinations for licensing do not  have the effect of  unlawfully discriminating against applicants for licensing as insurance  producers on the basis of  race, color, national origin, or sex.(b) As used in this Section, the following words have the meanings given in  this  subsection.Examination. "Examination" means the examination in each line of insurance  administered pursuant to Section 500-30.Examinee. "Examinee" means a person who takes an examination.Part. "Part" means a portion of an examination for which a score is  calculated.Operational item. "Operational item" means a test question considered in  determining an  examinee's score.Test form. "Test form" means the test booklet or instrument used for a part  of  an  examination.Pretest item. "Pretest item" means a prospective test question that is  included  in a test  form in order to assess its performance, but is not considered in determining  an examinee's score.Minority group or examinees. "Minority group" or "minority examinees" means  examinees who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.Correct-answer rate. "Correct-answer rate" for an item means the number of  examinees  who provided the correct answer on an item divided by the number of examinees  who answered  the item.Correlation. "Correlation" means a statistical measure of the relationship  between  performance on an item and performance on a part of the examination.(c) The Director shall ask each examinee to self-report on a voluntary basis  on the  answer sheet, application form, or by other appropriate means, the following  information:(1) race or ethnicity (American Indian or Alaska     Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or White);(2) education (8th grade or less; less than 12th     grade; high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate; some college, but no 4-year degree; or 4-year degree or more); and(3) gender (male or female).The Director must advise all examinees that they are not required to provide  this  information, that they will not be penalized for not doing so, and that the  Director will use the  information provided exclusively for research and statistical purposes and to  improve the quality  and fairness of the examinations.(d) No later than May 1 of each year, the Director must prepare, publicly  announce,  and publish an Examination Report of summary statistical information relating  to each  examination administered during the preceding calendar year. Each Examination  Report shall  show with respect to each examination:(1) For all examinees combined and separately by race     or ethnicity, by educational level, by gender, by educational level within race or ethnicity, by education level within gender, and by race or ethnicity within gender:(A) number of examinees;(B) percentage and number of examinees who passed         each part;(C) percentage and number of examinees who passed         all parts;(D) mean scaled scores on each part; and(E) standard deviation of scaled scores on each         part.(2) For male examinees, female examinees, Black or     African American examinees, white examinees, American Indian or Alaska Native examinees, Asian examinees, Hispanic or Latino examinees, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, respectively, with a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate, the distribution of scaled scores on each part.No later than May 1 of each year, the Director must prepare and make  available on  request an Item Report of summary statistical information relating to each  operational item on  each test form administered during the preceding calendar year. The Item Report  shall show, for  each operational item, for all examinees combined and separately for Black or African  American  examinees, white examinees, American Indian or Alaska Native examinees, Asian examinees,  Hispanic or Latino examinees, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, the correct-answer rates and correlations.The Director is not required to report separate statistical information  for any group or  subgroup comprising fewer than 50 examinees.(e) The Director must obtain a regular analysis of the data collected under  this  Section, and any other relevant information, for purposes of the development of  new test forms.  The analysis shall continue the implementation of the item selection  methodology as  recommended in the Final Report of the Illinois Insurance Producer's Licensing  Examination  Advisory Committee dated November 19, 1991, and filed with the Department  unless some other  methodology is determined by the Director to be as effective in minimizing  differences between  white and minority examinee pass-fail rates.(f) The Director has the discretion to set cutoff scores for the  examinations, provided  that scaled scores on test forms administered after July 1, 1993, shall be made  comparable to  scaled scores on test forms administered in 1991 by use of professionally  acceptable methods so  as to minimize changes in passing rates related to the presence or absence of  or changes in  equating or scaling equations or methods or content outlines. Each calendar  year, the scaled  cutoff score for each part of each examination shall fluctuate by no more than  the standard error  of measurement from the scaled cutoff score employed during the preceding year.(g) No later than May 1, 2003 and no later than May 1 of every fourth year  thereafter,  the Director must release to the public and make generally available one  representative test form  and set of answer keys for each part of each examination.(h) The Director must maintain, for a period of 3 years after they are  prepared or  used, all registration forms, test forms, answer sheets, operational items and  pretest items, item  analyses, and other statistical analyses relating to the examinations.  All  personal identifying  information regarding examinees and the content of test items must be  maintained confidentially  as necessary for purposes of protecting the personal privacy of examinees and  the maintenance of  test security.(i) In administering the examinations, the Director must make such  accommodations  for examinees with disabilities as are reasonably warranted by the particular disability  involved,  including the provision of additional time if necessary to complete an  examination or special  assistance in taking an examination.(j) For the purposes of this Section:(1) "American Indian or Alaska Native" means a person     having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America, including Central America, and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.(2) "Asian" means a person having origins in any of     the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.(3) "Black or African American" means a person having     origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.(4) "Hispanic or Latino" means a person of Cuban,     Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.(5) "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander" means     a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.(6) "White" means a person having origins in any of     the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.(Source: P.A. 102-465, eff. 1-1-22.)