PRINCETON — Though state testing scores are expected to go down for the next three years, as testing standards are changed and a new grading scale implemented, that doesn’t mean Princeton Elementary School students are learning less nor does it mean PES teachers aren’t doing a good job.

That’s the message given at this week’s meeting of the Princeton Elementary School Board by Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Barb Valle.

The Illinois State Board has raised the performance expectations of the existing Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) as part of the ongoing effort to better prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century, Valle said. That effort includes the implementation of the new Common Core Standards, with this year’s ISAT basing 20 percent upon the new Common Core Standards. That percentage will increase each year for three years until the new standards are fully in place and a new assessment system, the PARCC, is implemented.