A number of schools across the state started the applied skills portion of ISTEP+ testing this week, but the test is already proving frustrating to administrators due to unclear instructions along with typos on the exam.
East Porter County Schools Superintendent Rod Gardin said the district started testing on Monday and already they’ve received a handful of emails each day from the Indiana Department of Education clarifying the meaning certain questions and correcting numbers in math problems.
“Every day we’re getting some other piece of critical information that changes the questions for the kids,” Gardin said.
Students in third through eighth grade and those in 10th grade are taking the first part of the ISTEP, which can be done with a pencil and paper or online, and the testing window closes March 11.
Some of the questions require teachers to go back and check students’ work, which adds to the workload for teachers administering the test.
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“Think about how many tens thousands of students are taking ISTEP+, and you expect teachers go back in and determine a student’s intent?” Gardin said. “Some will but some may not have the time. And that goes back to the question of the validity of the test.”
DOE spokesperson Samantha Hart said the emails stem from questions the department receives from schools.
“When that happens, we proactively send additional guidance to the field as opposed to just those that have asked questions to ensure that all schools have up to date information,” Hart wrote in an email. “The guidance you are referencing was sent to ensure that all students receive accurate scores and also provide additional information (when needed) about items, whether they be sample, practice or operational.”
Gardin said an email clarifying a few questions is typical, but last year the emails spiked since the test was so much longer for students. Problems with the 2015 test resulted in scores being delayed until January. The rate of students passing both the English/language arts and mathematics portions dropped by 20 percent and the scores were the lowest in five years. Technical issues and a revised, more rigorous exam caused problems. As a result, state legislators decided not to grade teachers or schools based on the 2015 ISTEP+ grades.
The delay in getting accurate scores to schools means the exam is of little use in seeing how much a student has learned or getting a student timely remediation if they need it, Gardin said.
“The ISTEP+ results do not come back in time for us to use any of that information, while the NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association test), we take it three times a year and it allows us to measure student growth instantaneously.”
Pearson won the contract to create the 2016 and 2017 tests, taking over for the troubled tenure of CTB-McGraw Hill which encountered multiple computer server issues and design problems.
Gardin said neither teachers nor parents like the continuing problems with ISTEP+. House Bill 1395 eliminates the test as of July 1, 2017, but a replacement test that meets federal and state requirements has not yet been identified. The legislation creates a committee charged with devising one by Dec. 1.
“I wonder why they can’t make a decision when we can all see it isn’t working,” Gardin said.