After five years of rapid growth, the number of students attending private school using public funds appears to be plateauing in Indiana. This year, the state's voucher program grew by 12 percent, the smallest bump since it launched in 2011.

The fate of Gary's Thea Bowman Leadership Academy is in flux after the Indiana Charter School Board Tuesday voted down its change of sponsor request.

The Fort Wayne Community School board voted last week to not help the Indiana Department of Education pilot questions for next year's ISTEP+, saying they didn't want to subject their students to additional, unnecessary testing.

Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary is seeking a second chance from Indiana Charter Board after Ball State University declined to renew its charter over long-standing governance concerns. Two Indiana laws intended to prevent failing charter schools from escaping closure or accountability through finding another sponsor could now face their first test.

The 2016 General Assembly Thursday voted to get rid of the current ISTEP.

The plan, authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma, would give 200 college students $7,500 a year in tuition assistance as long as they attend a university in Indiana and study education.

A top education analyst says the U.S. probably could get some more people through college by footing the bill, and it would probably pay for itself. But it isn't an open-and-shut case.

An Indiana education official was allowed to suggest edits and changes to a report summarizing an independent investigation into the state's ISTEP exam.

Lawmakers want to overhaul standardized tests, but state and federal law could limit how much they change.

The bill, among other things, would create a panel of educators, legislators and community members to study and create a plan for moving to a new assessment type.