A bill sparing Indiana schools from a drop in A-F grades resulting from this year's sharp decline in student ISTEP scores now goes to the full House for consideration after the chamber's education committee approved it Thursday.
The new Democratic mayor says he supports charter schools but is more interested in quality than quantity.
Indiana lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved bills giving teachers and schools a one-year reprieve from being punished for poor student performance on ISTEP exams.
Pinnacle Partners Inc. has sued the charter school operator for allegedly failing to pay its $15,000 finder’s fee for placing a staff accountant. Tindley recently missed ambitious enrollment targets, creating a cash crunch.
The Indiana Commission for Higher education announced the 13 grants on Wednesday.
Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, said he wants to hire a contractor to re-score the 2015 ISTEP test, which he calls a “disaster.” Meanwhile, the House education committee approved a measure sparing teachers from having their performance pay reduced as a result of the scores.
Democrats and Republicans are backing a proposal expected to be considered by the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. The bill proposes schools may not receive a lower grade for 2015 than they received in 2014.
A lack of consensus among Republicans on several issues—including questions about gay rights, transportation funding and ISTEP testing—looms large as lawmakers ready for the 2016 legislative session, which kicks off Tuesday.
Investigators found no evidence that students were given incorrect lower scores on this spring’s high-stakes ISTEP exam, according to state officials.
An idea to scrap Indiana’s state standardized test in favor of an “off-the-shelf” test could make a comeback during this year’s legislative session.
Five years ago, Lawrence Township became one of the first districts in the nation to convert all of its elementary schools into magnet schools. Today, few parents are exercising choice—at most schools, 90 percent of students come from the surrounding neighborhood.
The Education Department said Tuesday that the rate for the 2013-14 school year was 87.9 percent in Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Education asked the company that scores the important standardized test for the number of test items and schools that may have been affected by a computer malfunction that could have caused results to be inadvertently changed.
Demand is up at Excel Centers, a network of dropout-recovery charter schools run by Goodwill Industries. Statewide, 846 students graduated from the centers in 2015, 33 percent more than last year.
House Education Committee chairman Robert Behning, an Indianapolis Republican, said he'll have a bill ready during the first weeks of the legislative session in January for a one-year suspension of ISTEP as part of teacher evaluations.
At issue this year is what to do about test-score-based school accountability measures now that the state is expecting much lower scores.
A funding plan under consideration by Indianapolis Public Schools lan could have far-reaching consequences for students and teachers across the city, with some schools coming out ahead—and others facing difficult choices.
A 49-member panel comprised mostly of teachers from across the state on Monday refined its recommendations for how the state should mentor, train, recruit and pay teachers.
The Mind Trust education reform group will receive $3 million more from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to launch new public schools, attract teachers to Indianapolis and advance changes in K-12 schools.
While the numbers are just preliminary findings, they paint a dire picture. For example, the number of schools that received an "A'' grade plunged by more than 50 percent when compared to last year.
