ISTEP Scores Up Slightly As DOE Prepares To Change Test

INDIANAPOLIS – ISTEP test scores increased again in 2014 – but barely.

The Indiana Department of Education released the standardized test scores Friday. The data shows a small increase throughout all subject areas at the statewide level:

• English/Language Arts: 80.7 percent of Indiana students passed, up from 79.5 percent in 2013.
• Math: 83.5 percent passed, up from 83 percent in 2013.
• Combined: 74.7 percent of students passed both portions, up from 73.7 percent in 2013.

“This year, we saw yet another increase in student performance indicated through ISTEP,” said State Superintendent Glenda Ritz in a statement. “These increased scores are just one sign of the great learning that is happening in Indiana Schools.”

Students had similar increases in scores in 2013, a year that saw widespread glitches with the computerized portion of the tests.

The scores are important not only to individual students but also to schools because they are used to determine their letter grades.

The 2014 scores are the last using the current ISTEP test.

Next year the state will change the test to comply with new standards.

Initially, the Indiana Department of Education wanted to push back a new standardized test to the 2015-2016 school year to allow teachers and students to prepare and understand the new curriculum. But to comply with the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver, the state must administer a new statewide test this upcoming school year.

Paige Clark is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.