Local Superintendents React To ISTEP Elimination
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Local schools are in celebration mode following a decision yesterday, Tuesday, March 22, by Indiana Governor Mike Pence to sign House Bill 1395, eliminating the ISTEP+ by summer, 2017.
“I’m happy ISTEP as we know it will be retired,” Wawasee School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington said. “I’m sorry that it didn’t happen earlier. We hope that a replacement test will have the following components: That with today’s technological world, the results will be immediate or close to immediate; that the testing itself will be done in a much more time-efficient manner, rather than students taking weeks of time to complete various tests; that the tests won’t be hindered by technology issues like we had the last three years prior to this year; and that the results will be fair for each child.”
Warsaw Community Schoools Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert expressed similar thoughts.
“We are excited for the movements taking place at the state level to limit or change the current standardized testing through ISTEP,” Hoffert said. “We highly encourage our state leaders to continue keeping this topic at the forefront by shaping accountability metrics through the insights of educators working continually with students. Many methods of formative assessment already take place at the local level that provide much more authentic data to drive instructional practices.”
“I am pleased the legislature and governor have seen the need to create a better measure of student achievement,” Whitko Community School Corporation Superintendent Steve Clason said. “The test itself was poorly administered and did nothing to assist us in getting better either as a corporation or in assisting our students to get better. The bigger problem is the misuse of testing results, tying them to teacher performance and school achievement as that test was never designed to do that.”
Clason went on to outline his hopes for whichever assessment is chosen to replace the ISTEP.
“I hope the summer study committee that is created works to find a test that: has a true growth measure; can give us instant feedback so we can help students; and has the ability to compare our students and schools at the national, state and local level.”
Tippecanoe Valley School Superintendent Brett Boggs feels that a move away from the ISTEP+ is good but feels the state should tread cautiously when incorporating a new test.
“My concern is that Indiana comes up with an assessment to take the place of ISTEP+ that takes far less time away from classroom instruction and provides teachers with more immediate and meaningful information about the progress of individual children, information that can be used by teachers to guide classroom instruction,” Boggs said. “My hope is that Governor Pence will involve classroom teachers and public school administrators in the decision-making process, rather than allowing special interest groups to determine what the new test will be.”
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