DOE Seeking Damages for ISTEP+ Test Interruptions

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The preliminary damage amount has been released by the Indiana Department of Education that pertains to the ISTEP+ related interruptions experienced by schools throughout the state this spring.

The state is seeking damages not less than $613,000 and could reasonably go into the millions. That amount includes $400,000 in liquidation damages provided for in the contract between the Department of Education and CTB McGraw-Hill. It also includes a price that the DOE will spend to have a third party conduct an analysis of the student’s scores and other related costs associated with enhanced reporting data.

Additional damages include a reimbursement to Indiana schools for additional costs incurred to administer the ISTEP+ test during the extended testing window and reimbursements to the DOE.

ISTEP Testing Issues Could Cause More Problems

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Online ISTEP testing caused several problems for schools around the state last week. The state has a four-year $90 million contract with T-C-B-McGraw-Hill to provide the capabilities to allow ISTEP testing to take place online. This is the second year in a row that students have been interrupted taking the state mandated test which has brought up questions about the validity of the testing this year. Students who were “kicked off” while testing came back the next day and had to start the test over. That’s a lot of mental pressure on the students.

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ISTEP+ Testing Returns to Normal Levels

Posted on Author WKVI

Indiana Department of EducationSchools can resume ISTEP+ testing at normal levels today. Officials with the Indiana Department of Education say software vendor CTB McGraw-Hill is confident fixes made to their servers last week will allow for full testing. Problems administering the online test last week prompted state officials to ask schools to administer the test to half of their students at a time. They also extended the testing window for schools until May 17. So far, about 48 percent of total ISTEP+ sessions have been completed. State officials say minimal interruptions were reported Friday.

State Reports Trouble-Free ISTEP Testing

Posted on Author WKVI

Indiana Department of Education

ISTEP+ testing resumes today in classrooms across the state. No major problems were reported during the administration of ISTEP tests yesterday, according to officials with the Indiana Department of Education. Computer crashes earlier in the week halted the administration of the test. As a workaround, state officials asked schools to cut the number of students testing at a time by half. That reduction continues today, and the department of education has extended the testing window by two additional days. Schools now have until May 17 to finish giving the test. Minimal interruptions were reported yesterday, according to state officials, who say 41 percent of the total expected ISTEP+ sessions have been completed this week. Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz remains committed to working with schools, students and parents to ensure that they have the time they need to guarantee all Hoosier students have the opportunity to take a fair test.

Knox School Officials Disappointed In ISTEP Scores

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa

The three principals and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation gave the school board members an overview of the corporation’s ISTEP scores.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said all of the administrators and the board were disappointed in this year’s scores.

“They dropped in most categories at both the elementary school and a the middle school,” stated Gappa. “Everybody’s gathering together and making action plans on how their going to move forward and turn that around. We’re confident that the plans are going to be successful and do a reversal on the scores.”

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West Central Confident ISTEP Scores Will Improve

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The three West Central school principals addressed the school board about the ISTEP scores and Superintendent Charles Mellon indicated that they are confident new strategies will turn around those scores.

“We’re presently analyzing our data that has come back to us so we can see different trends that are taking place,” said Mellon. “We’ll get that information together before we give off-the-cuff answers for our lower scores this year. We will be addressing the board each month this year as to our progress in working our way back to more positive scores next year.”

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Culver Announces Decline In Middle School ISTEP Scores

Posted on Author WKVI
Culver Community School Superintendent, Brad Schuldt

Culver Schools Superintendent Brad Schuldt says their ISTEP results are in, bringing some good and bad news. He says the elementary school grades three through six had the largest gains in scores of any of the 13 middle and elementary schools in Marshall County, and more than 80 percent of the students passed.

Schuldt said that for four consecutive years, the elementary school has increased scores in every category, and a vast majority of students passed both math and language arts sections.

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ISTEP Scores Drop At West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members discussed ISTEP scores during their recent meeting and Superintendent Charles Mellon said the scores were down this year.

“We have a lot of work to do there Our scores have gone down. I didn’t want to give any off-the-cuff reasons as to why. We’re going to do some in-depth investigation as to the rationale,” Mellon explained.

Mellon said it was a bit of a surprise as the students showed growth in testing throughout the school year.

“A lot of our inside the corporation test scores, like with acuity and so on, show student growth at a good rate. We need to go in and compare some scores and dig a little deeper to see why we’re going in the wrong direction,” said Mellon.

Eastern Pulaski Schools Elated Over ISTEP Scores

Posted on Author WKVI

The ISTEP scores were released yesterday by Indiana State Schools Superintendent Dr. Tony Bennett and Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman says the students did very well on the state standardized test.

“They did absolutely outstanding,” said Klitzman. “In terms of English and Language Arts, these are the percentages of students that passed the state test, third grade 95.4, fourth grade 92.2 and fifth grade 97.8. In Math, third grade 93.8, fourth grade 96.7 and fifth grade 97.8. In our middle school, they did well and they showed good growth.”

And that’s not even the best part!

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Eastern Pulaski Schools Proud of ISTEP Test Results

Posted on Author WKVI

Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman
The Eastern Pulaski School Board dissected the preliminary ISTEP test results this week and Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said the students did exceptionally well.

“In terms of reading, our third, fourth and fifth grade students all performed better,” stated Klitzman. “We went from the lower-90s to the mid-upper-90s across the board. We’re in 90s at our sixth grade level and both our seventh and eighth grade showed some good scores.”

The students also did well on the math portion of the ISTEP test.

“At the elementary level, every single grade level went up into the mid-90s. In science we went up, fourth grade had a 94 percent. In social studies in the fifth grade, they are at 95 percent. Excellent scores!” exclaimed Klitzman.

Klitzman said that there was also some improvement in the high school.

“At the high school level, there was good improvement in our Language Arts area. That was a target of focus for us so we’re very pleased with that, and we’re still taking steps to bring up our other areas as well.”

West Central Students to Begin ISTEP, IREAD Testing

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

Students at the West Central School Corporation will be engaged in testing this month. Superintendent Charles Mellon talks about what tests will be administered.

“We have a full slate of ISTEP and I think we have acuity testing also in March,” said Mellon. “We also have the IREAD test which will be most interesting this year. This is the year that if you’re not reading a grade level by the end of the third grade, then you have to retake the test after some remediation and if you still do not pass it after the second test, you then have to take the same third grade IREAD test the following year. So, your instruction is then a year behind.”

The IREAD results are expected back to the corporation in April.

Knox Community School Board Study ISTEP Results

Posted on Author WKVI
Gary Dulin, Jerry Fletcher, Harold Welter, Mary Lynn Ritchie, Kirk Bennett, Nathan Marcum, Mike Yankauskas, Superintendent A.J. Gappa

The Knox Community School Board dissected the Corporation’s ISTEP results at their meeting Monday night.

Students in the Elementary School showed gains in the 3rd grade Math and English/Language Arts while the 4th graders were down a little in English/Language Arts and unchanged in Math. The 5th grade students had a five point gain in Math.

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Eastern Pulaski School Students in Top 25

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent, Dr. Robert Klitzman, told the Board of a great achievement by the students and teachers at the Corporation.

“I received an email from the [Department of Education] that our School Corporation was going to be recognized in Indianapolis at a press conference as on of the top 25 School Corporations in the whole state in terms of growth on the Language Arts-Reading portion of the I-STEP and Math,” said Dr. Klitzman.
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