For the third consecutive year, nearly half of the state’s schoolchildren failed at least one part of the ISTEP test, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
A review showed for 10th grade students, East Porter’s Washington Township brought home a 65.7 percent passing rate, followed by Munster at 62.4 percent, the highest for Porter and Lake county schools, respectively.
Statewide, Brebeuf Jesuit students in Indianapolis recorded the highest pass rate — at 80 percent, followed by Carmel, north of Indianapolis, with 68.3 percent.
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The testing, however, wasn’t without some controversy.
Merrillville Superintendent Jeff Studebaker said the district’s 10th graders got caught up in a testing error because the students mistakenly used calculators on the math portion.
“Half the kids who took the test didn’t pass,” he said. Only 13.7 percent of Merrillville sophomores passed the spring test, according to the results released Wednesday.
Studebaker said the error was caught halfway through the testing, but it was too late for many students whose scores were invalidated.
“We know we have some work to do,” he said.
The testing mishap affected several school districts, including Jefferson Elementary students in Hammond. The Department of Education said test provider Pearson incorrectly told schools to allow calculator use for an ISTEP section for which they weren’t permitted.
Figures released Wednesday show that 51.5 percent of students in grades 3-8 passed both the English and math sections from the exam given last spring, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the 2016 tests, but still 2 percentage points lower than the 2015 exam results.
About 65 percent of students passed the English section, while 58.5 percent had passing math scores. Both pass rates were down slightly from 2016.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick, a Republican, said the new results flatlined.
“They are never going to be high enough for any of us,” she said. “So schools are working hard to improve the scores. We will continue to work hard. Obviously, ILEARN will come in and that transition will play into this. It is good they are not decreasing, but we always want to see improvement.”
Superintendents in Lake Station, Chesterton, Crown Point, Hammond weren’t immediately available for comment.
Schools in the Gary Community School Corporaton struggled on the exam, with Wirt-Emerson posting a 13 percent passing rate and West Side at 18.2 percent.
“We are studying the results and looking at root cause,” Paul Pastorek, Chief of Staff to Gary Community School Corporation Emergency Manager Peggy Hinckley, wrote in an e-mailed statement. “We believe that our teachers and leaders can improve and make these better for Gary students.”
Charter schools fared poorly overall in Wednesday’s release. At the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, only a single student out of 109 passed both English and Math sections.
Thea Bowman Principal Richard Glass asked questions be directed to Phalen Leadership Academies CEO Earl Phalen. He could not be immediately reached at his Indianapolis office.
Data was not available for Aspire Charter Academy, Charter School of the Dunes, Discovery Charter Center, East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School, East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy, Gary Middle College, and Steel City Academy.
Gary Lighthouse Charter School (9.9 percent), Lake Ridge (6.5 percent), Hammond Morton and the 21st Century Charter School in Gary (5.6 percent), Gary New Tech (4.2 percent), Thea Bowman (0.9 percent) and Neighbor’s New Vistas High School in Portage (0 percent), scored less than 10 percent passage, according to state data.
About three-quarters of students passed both the math and English sections on the 2014 ISTEP test. Those results are used to give state rankings to schools and are a factor in teacher evaluations and pay raises.
The Associated Press contributed.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Twitter @meredithcolias
Twitter @meredithcolias
Students passing both English and Math in 10th grade:
*East Porter Washington Township — 46 of 70 — 65.7 percent
*Munster — 227 of 364 — 62.4 percent
*Chesterton High — 227 of 482 — 47.1 percent
*Crown Point — 329 of 703 — 46.8 percent
*East Porter Morgan Township — 24 of 54 — 44.4 percent
*Valparaiso High — 228 of 521 — 43.8 percent
*Lake Central — 330 of 775 — 42.6 percent
*Highland — 111 of 285 — 38.9 percent
*Wheeler High— 62 of 160 — 38.8 percent
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*Andrean High — 48 of 129 — 37.2 percent
*Tri-Creek (Lowell) — 109 of 303 — 36 percent
*Boone Grove High — 45 of 127 — 35.4 percent
*East Porter Kouts High — 28 of 79 — 35.4 percent
*Hebron High — 36 of 103 — 35 percent
*Hammond Academy of Science and Technology — 23 of 75 — 30.7 percent
*Lake Station — 26 of 85 — 30.6 percent
*Bishop Noll Institute — 46 of 152 — 30.3 percent
*Portage High — 199 of 665 — 29.9 percent
*Hanover Central — 50 of 174 students — 28.7 percent
*Whiting — 30 of 113 — 26.5 percent
*Hobart— 67 of 277 — 24.2 percent
*River Forest — 26 of 122 — 21.3 percent
*Griffith — 44 of 209 — 21.1 percent
*Hammond Gavit — 52 of 250 — 20.8 percent
*Gary West Side — 26 of 143 — 18.2 percent
*Merrillville — 47 of 342 — 13.7 percent
*Hammond Clark — 26 of 193 — 13.5 percent
*Gary Wirt-Emerson — 10 of 77 — 13 percent
*Hammond High — 26 of 214 — 12.1 percent
*East Chicago — 31 of 272 — 11.4 percent
*Gary Lighthouse Charter School — 13 of 131 — 9.9 percent
*Lake Ridge — 10 of 153 — 6.5 percent
*Hammond Morton — 18 of 324 — 5.6 percent
*21st Century Charter School of Gary — 4 of 72 — 5.6 percent
*Gary New Tech — 1 of 24 — 4.2 percent
*Thea Bowman Leadership Academy — 1 of 109 — .9 percent
*Neighbor’s New Vistas High School in Portage — 0 of 24 — 0 percent
Source: Indiana Department of Education