State releases 2015 ISTEP scores; Pass rates down across the state

In the WLCSC nearly 80 percent of students passed both sections.

The passing percentage for IPS School 56, which a year ago ranked among the best in the district at 82.7 percent, fell a whopping 55 percentage points, the worst in the state. Superintendent Scott Hanback said.

Killion said teachers were not given the time to prepare students to learn new standards implemented in the 2015 exam. He said the scores were exactly what he anticipated.

Clark said she wants lawmakers to respect teachers and listen to them during the legislative session.

The new scores will, in effect, become the new baseline for schools under the new standards. Only about 53% of Hoosier students passed both the Math and English/Language Arts sections of the test. That’s down from almost 75% for the 2013-2014 school year.

Wayne Township Schools saw 39.3 percent of students pass both the Mathematics and English Language Arts sections in 2015. “We had meetings to discover different ways to address the issue”. “We have a testing crisis in Indiana”. Third, some schools had problems administering the on-line test due to connectivity issues with the test provider, CTB/McGraw-Hill.

The ISTEP is taken by more than 400,000 students in grades three through eight. “I was very aware the standards would be more rigorous”.

Looking over the TSC results, Hanback found other problems. “Instead, Indiana should move toward a streamlined, individualized, student-centered assessment that provides students, families and educators with quick feedback about how a student is performing and how they have grown during a school year”. “The delay in receiving ISTEP results did not hinder our instructional efforts to increase the academic success of our students and that is thanks to the incredible efforts of our teaching and support staff. At EACS, we teach students the critical thinking skills they need, success will follow”.

East Allen County School released a statement about the results as well.

The bill, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, would also prevent teacher bonuses from being negatively impacted. That’s because problems with the administration and scoring of the tests have been uncovered in recent months. Additionally, 69.2 percent of fourth- and sixth-grade students passed the Science section and 70.4 percent of fifth- and seventh-grade students passed the optional Social Studies section. “We need to get serious about creating an accountability system that parents, students and educators find meaningful”.

“We’re still the same people; we’re still teaching the same way”, Layton said.

Passing rates sank on almost every measure after the test was retooled to match tougher standards the state adopted in 2014.

Lehman said North Adams uses the NWEA assessment “and that assessment gives us timely results”.

The majority of those 19 local districts had a lower passing percentage than the state average in at least one subject.

Republicans have also sought to redirect some criticism to Ritz, who they say did not do a good enough job policing the company that conducted the test.

“It was nice to hear that we were all listening to each other”, Rodenhuis said.

She believes it’s important to measure students progress, but doesn’t think a single test is the answer.

Shocking drops in ISTEP scores have lawmakers scrambling to protect schools and teachers from sanctions. “We’ve never had that”, Hanback said.

Hanback said he expects the governor and legislators to fast-track the legislation. Superintendent Les Huddle were not returned.