New ISTEP scores show slight decrease in English

Results for this year’s Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus show a slight decrease in scores across the state.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Suellen Reed released the results at a press conference Thursday morning in Indianapolis.

The ISTEP measures what students know and are able to do at each grade level. The ISTEP is given to about 700,000 students in grades 3-10 annually.

This year, the median passing rate for English was 71 percent, compared to 72 percent last year. The median passing rate for math stayed the same.

“Despite gains made by many local schools, the latest ISTEP results are disappointing from a state perspective,” Reed said in a press release. “Like an annual physical, ISTEP is our regular checkup of student learning. The results are in, but the true test is what will be done by parents, students and educators to turn these results around.”

Lynelle Miller, spokeswoman for the ISTEP for Indiana Department of Education, said the DOE has already implemented many new programs to get better results, one of which is making computer-based assessment tools available in the classroom for teachers.

“These teachers get Palm Pilots, and they can pull a student aside if they see they are kind of falling behind as content is being taught and give them a quick, one-minute checkup,” Miller said. “The child answers the questions, and instantly through the PDA the teacher receives results on how to better instruct that student.”

More than 600 Indiana schools were trained with this technology, and within two years it will be available to every school corporation statewide, Miller said.

Another new online resource for parents is the ISTEP Parent Network Web site, where parents are given a login ID through their child’s school and are able to track their student’s ISTEP scores and learn ways to help their child succeed. The Web site became available for parents Thursday morning, Miller said.

While the state scores indicated a slight decrease, Monroe County Community School Corporation students did well in comparison to their peers statewide, Michael Shipman, director of assessment and school operations for MCCSC, said in a press release.

Of MCCSC students, 79.2 percent passed the math portion, and 77 percent passed the English portion.

“These data really do support the hard work that our students, teachers and administrators do every day,” Shipman said in a press release. Gale Hill, principal of Tri-North Middle School, said she’s proud of the teachers and students.

“We are a university community, so I think the expectations are probably higher in our community than in some of the others, and we work very hard to meet those expectations and to help our kids succeed,” Hill said.

She said MCCSC does not have the new technology some Indiana schools have now, but she is excited to have the opportunity in the near future.

“Anything that’s going to help us and cut down on the amount of time we have to take to get information is always good,” she said. “Kids are our future.”