SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Illinois lawmakers are trying to stop the state department of education from giving standardized tests to its youngest students.

Kevin Robinson has a fourth and second grader, as well as twins in kindergarten, in Illinois.

"I just don't think that three standardized tests a year is good, and I don't think its necessary," Robinson told WAND News.

He's skeptical these assessments can measure what young students are learning, and believes kids are being tested too often.

"I understand the need to do assessments and understand where kids are and how to get them caught up. But I'm not convinced that a standardized test is the way to do it," Robinson explained.

Just this year, he said one of his kindergarteners was falling behind in reading. But his child's teacher was able to identify and correct the issue without tests.

"The teacher figured this out - not through a standardized test, but by going through and reading with the class. She then met with us and said 'here's where he's at and this is how we want to get there,'" Robinson added.

He joined the fight with Illinois Families for Public Schools to push back against an ISBE proposal to bring standardized tests to kindergarten, first and second grade students.

"It is not useful as a measure of what they know and can do," Cassie Creswell, director of Illinois Families for Public Schools, told WAND News.

Crewsell worked with lawmakers to file "Too Young to Test" bills in the Illinois House and Senate.

"What's not OK is for the state to put their stamp of approval on this type of testing and push it down into those younger grades," Crewsell explained.

Senate Bill 3986 passed 52-3 and now moves to the House, where it has bipartisan support thanks to vocal parents.

"If you read descriptions of kids in kindergarten, taking those kinds of tests - which unfortunately are all to common in schools around the state and around the country - it's disturbing. That's just not what kids should be doing," Creswell added.

The bill would not stop individual districts from administering additional standardized testing.

ISBE said its proposal would have made standardized testing optional for kindergarten through second grade students.