INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The latest on issues surrounding Indiana’s standardized school testing (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
The Indiana Senate Education and Career Development committee has given schools a reprieve from dismal 2015 student ISTEP scores counting against their A-F letter grades.
The committee voted 10-1 Wednesday afternoon to approve a fast-tracked bill after over an hour of debate.
A companion measure was approved earlier by the House Education Committee, sparing teachers from having their performance pay reduced because of low student scores.
Gov. Mike Pence and leaders in the GOP dominated Legislature support both bills despite their previous support for tough new performance standards on the test.
The administration of the test was plagued by problems, including scoring discrepancies and a months-long delay until Wednesday in the release of student scores.
12:30 p.m.
The Indiana House Education committee has approved a measure sparing teachers from having their performance pay reduced as a result of low student scores on the 2015 ISTEP.
The bill by Education Committee Chairman Robert Behning was approved on a 12-0 vote Wednesday afternoon and is one of two measures dealing with the exam that lawmakers have fast-tracked since the session start on Tuesday.
Behning, an Indianapolis Republican, says the 2015 test was a “disaster” plagued by many problems, including scoring discrepancies and a months-long delay in the release of student scores.
A Senate education committee on Wednesday is scheduled to take up a companion bill. That measure will spare schools from having their A-F grades drop as a result of the test.
9:30 a.m.
The GOP chairman of the Indiana House education committee says he wants to hire a contractor to re-score the 2015 ISTEP test, which he calls a “disaster.”
Indianapolis Rep. Robert Behning said Wednesday that even if teachers and schools are not held accountable for dismal scores, the exam still forms a baseline to measure future progress.
The 2015 test was plagued by many problems, including scoring discrepancies and a months-long delay in the release of student scores. It also included stringent new standards that challenged many students.
Behning said a re-score is important to maintain credibility with parents and educators. He said lawmakers in the Senate are receptive to the idea, but he does not know how much it would cost.
6 a.m.
The Indiana Department of Education says slightly more than half of the students who took the ISTEP standardized test last year passed both the language arts and mathematics portions.
That’s a sharp drop from the 74.7 percent of students who passed both sections in 2014. Officials say the drop was expected because of changes that made the test more difficult.
The Department of Education announced the results Wednesday. But the department says the 2014 and 2015 scores aren’t comparable because of “more rigorous college and career ready standards.”
The tests were adjusted after national Common Core standards were scrapped in favor of new, Indiana-written guidelines.
Lawmakers have been considering removing any negative influences the test scores might have on school districts and teacher pay.
3 a.m.
An Indiana Senate education committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on sparing schools from being penalized for poor student performance on the 2015 ISTEP exams.
The measure by Sen. Dennis Kruse would spare schools seeing their A-through-F grades drop from their 2014 scores as a result of low scores on the 2015 exams, which were plagued by problems.
The Auburn Republican’s bill is supported by Gov. Mike Pence and Republican legislative leaders, as well as Democratic state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz.
The bill is one of two measures dealing with the ISTEP that have been fast tracked by lawmakers eager to tamp down unease over scores, which dropped dramatically in 2015 as a result of stringent new standards
The other measure would not lower teachers’ performance pay as a result of low student scores. It is also scheduled for a Wednesday hearing.
