ISTEP scores hold steady for third straight year
Indiana appears to have reached a new normal when it comes to ISTEP scores: For the third straight year, about half of the students taking the exam passed it.
Indiana appears to have reached a new normal when it comes to ISTEP scores: For the third straight year, about half of the students taking the exam passed it.
The state announced last week that it will begin accepting proposals through Aug. 24 for the new “ILEARN” testing system as well as the state’s third-grade reading exam, IREAD.
ISTEP scores for thousands of students across the state are set to be thrown out this year, including at two Indianapolis private schools, according to state officials.
Indiana’s former superintendent of public instruction is now president and CEO of Advancing Public Schools. She’s barred from being paid by Indiana school districts until next year.
The State Board of Education punished Hoosier Academy Virtual Charter School, one of the largest online providers in Indiana, by freezing enrollment and reducing the fee for its authorizer, Ball State University.
The new test would be used for the first time in 2019, meaning ISTEP still has one more year of life.
The Senate Education Committee finished its work for the year Wednesday by killing two bills and passing four, including an amended version of a bill to overhaul the state testing system.
In every school district in Marion County, students are taking the opportunity to sign up for high school Advanced Placement courses that can earn them college credit.
Indiana, already a state with one of the most robust taxpayer-funded voucher programs in the country, has made small steps toward broadening the program.
Suburban schools, English-learners and virtual schools would fare well under the Indiana House’s 2017 budget plan, while Indianapolis Public Schools and other urban districts would see drops in state support.
A proposal to replace ISTEP won approval from Indiana’s House Education Committee on Thursday, putting what is likely another nail in the deeply unpopular exam’s coffin.
Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, filed House Bill 1003 in the Indiana General Assembly on Wednesday, setting out details for a new state testing system, whose name stands for “Indiana’s Learning Evaluation Assessment Readiness Network.”
Democrats say it’s not enough, particularly in its failure to expand state-funded preschool to more counties.
Gov.-Elect Eric Holcomb on Thursday announced he wants to make Indiana’s elected superintendent of public instruction a governor-appointed position. House Speaker Brian Bosma is set to author the bill.
Since their start in 2009, Indiana’s online schools have grown tremendously, and enrollment now tops 11,000. But every online school in the state that tested students in 2016—including four charter schools—received an F grade.
Rep. Bob Behning, who championed the so-called “kill ISTEP” bill last spring, said the state might extend its contract with the company that made this year’s ISTEP by another one or two years.
Although Indiana’s House leadership has already come out strongly in support of expanding the state’s preschool program, key players in the Senate said Wednesday that they remain skeptical about added costs.
Across the state, 51.6 percent of students in grades 3-8 passed both the math and reading test, down from 53.5 percent in 2015.
Democrat Glenda Ritz had clashed often with Republicans at the Statehouse after her election in 2012.
After two years of Indiana schools fretting about whether there are enough teachers to fill every classroom, the state is now seeing an uptick in the number of people becoming teachers.