State education board reviewing federal concerns
Federal monitors found trouble with outreach to low-performing schools and with teacher evaluations. They also raised concerns over the state's decision to exit national Common Core standards.
Public schools
Articles
Voters pass record rate of tax hikes for schools
Indiana residents are having a change of heart as struggling school districts come to them with requests for more money.
U.S. education chief wants Indiana waiver updates
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan asked Indiana officials to provide his staff regular updates on how the state plans to address concerns with its No Child Left Behind waiver ahead of a June 30 deadline.
IndyGo to study transporting some IPS students
IndyGo is updating its past studies on the feasibility of serving IPS high schools. A past study found that IPS spent $1,520 per student a year on transportation, while a city bus pass costs $330.
Some schools switch from online to paper tests
Fort Wayne Community Schools announced it has dropped the online version of the ISTEP following issues with a practice run last week, and Wayne Township schools in Indianapolis is also trading computer testing for traditional paper tests.
State board approves Indiana’s Common Core replacement
One of the first states to adopt Common Core standards became the first state to formally abandon the national benchmarks.
IPS, Mind Trust launch school-turnaround fellowship
Education reform group The Mind Trust will pay selected educators $100,000 to spend a year developing plans and forming teams to improve the poorest performing schools in the IPS district.
Indiana education panel approves new school standards
The approval from the Education Roundtable — co-chaired by Pence and Superintendent for Public Instruction Glenda Ritz and flushed with lawmakers, business leaders and education officials — means the standards passed one of the last hurdles before adoption.
Board member asks for old Indiana school standards
A State Board of Education member formally requested Friday that an education panel abandon a proposed overhaul of Indiana's education standards.
Proposed Indiana school standards get mixed reviews
Debate on the new standards comes as the state races to create before July new, state-written benchmarks for what students should learn in each grade.
Indiana faces deadline on new education standards
As the first state to drop the national Common Core learning standards, Indiana is rushing to approve new state-crafted benchmarks in time for teachers to use them this fall, and education leaders from across the nation are closely watching.
Education officials release draft of academic standards
The proposed standards for grades K-12 combine elements of Common Core, previous Indiana guidelines and recommendations from outside organizations. State law requires standards be approved before July 1 for use in the 2014-15 school year.
School board members say teacher ratings fail system
Members of the Indiana State Board of Education said a new performance evaluation system failed parents, students and teachers when results released earlier this week found only 2 percent of educators are in need improvement.
Bennett campaign ethics hearing further delayed
Former Indiana Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett's hearing over charges that he violated state ethics laws was moved Monday to August as defense attorneys review thousands of pages of evidence turned over by the state inspector general.
UPDATE: Experts question some Indiana teacher evaluations
Education policy experts say results of the first Indiana teacher evaluations that rank only 2 percent as needing improvement show some schools aren't taking the rating system seriously.
Schools label few teachers, administrators as ‘ineffective’
Performance results released Monday by the Department of Education revealed that only one of every 250 educators was ranked in the lowest category. And fewer than three in 100 were rated as needing improvement.
Fight against Common Core not over in Indiana
Making Gov. Mike Pence's call for "standards that are written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers, and are uncommonly high" a reality will take more than his signature.
State nixes Common Core, but new model may be similar
Indiana on Monday became the first state to formally withdraw from Common Core education standards. A proposed new program is already being criticized as too close to Common Core.
Common Core spawns widespread political fights
More than five years after U.S. governors began a bipartisan effort to set new standards in American schools, the Common Core initiative has morphed into a political tempest fueling division among Republicans.
IPS terminates CFO after disagreement over budget
Indianapolis Public Schools has fired its chief financial officer for “unsatisfactory work performance” one week after Superintendent Lewis Ferebee publicly disagreed with a financial assessment that said the district had a $30 million budget deficit.