Bill to bring back A-F grades for Indiana schools passes committee
School grades have been effectively suspended since 2018, when Indiana shifted from ISTEP to a new state standardized test and later grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Standardized test scores
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IPS test scores rebound close to pre-pandemic levels, but far from 2025 goal
As students in grades 3-8 prepare to take the ILEARN again beginning in April, the district is focusing on tactics to continue its progress and reach that goal, with the help of federal COVID relief funding.
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Amid FAFSA delays, Hoosier education officials ramp up efforts to keep applications rolling in
Thousands of Hoosier students qualify for aid each year, but historically, fewer than half end up submitting their FAFSA. That leaves tens of millions of unclaimed federal aid dollars.
Latest IREAD scores show slight gains, but 14K third graders still behind
Data from the Indiana Department of Education shows 82.5% out of the roughly 82,000 third graders at public and private schools in Indiana passed the 2024 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination, also called the IREAD test.
Indiana’s new ILEARN test scores remain stagnant
New state standardized test results show little to no progress among Hoosier students in grades 3-8, signaling a continued struggle to reverse learning loss following the pandemic.
Indiana schools get legislative green light to break up ILEARN testing
An option for schools to divvy up portions of Indiana’s ILEARN exams was approved by state lawmakers at the end of the 2024 legislative session and will change how thousands of Hoosier students are tested.
Indiana students’ reading scores have barely changed in three years, new IREAD results show
More than four out of five third graders—just under 82%—passed the Indiana reading exam, the IREAD, in 2023. That’s several percentage points below the passing rate from 2019, when 87.3% of all students passed the test.
ILEARN scores show improvement, but trail pre-pandemic results
Less than a third of Hoosier students passed both the math and English sections of ILEARN, the Indiana Department of Education reported Wednesday.
Indiana high schoolers raise AP scores, but many are still short of passing
Indiana high schoolers increased their Advanced Placement scores to pre-pandemic norms in 2022, according to preliminary data released by the College Board.
Indiana’s education scores decline along with rest of nation’s
Scores released Monday from the most recent National Assessment Educational Progress—“the nation’s report card”—reflect unprecedented and not unexpected declines affecting students in virtually every state and every region of the country.
ACT test scores drop to lowest in 30 years in pandemic slide
An increasing number of high school students failed to meet any of the subject-area benchmarks set by the ACT—showing a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework.
Indiana students improve on tests, trail pre-pandemic marks
Indiana students had small improvements in their English and math scores, with standardized test results released Wednesday indicating a tentative bright spot following years of pandemic-disrupted learning.
No more pencils: SAT going digital in shifting college admissions landscape
The Scholastic Aptitude Test will move from paper and pencil to a digital format, administrators announced Tuesday, saying the shift will boost the SAT’s relevancy as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admission.
Indiana study: Test scores go up when students stay with same teacher
The practice of rematching students with teachers over two years led to stronger classroom relationships, which in turn led to a small but notable increase in math and reading scores, the study found.
Indiana’s IREAD scores show unequal effects of pandemic on children
The gap in passing rates on state tests between white and Black students grew to 25.5 percentage points last spring from 2019.
Indiana ILEARN test scores plunge during pandemic
Results of the annual ILEARN state tests released Wednesday show that 28.6% of students statewide in grades 3 through 8 tested proficient in both English and math. In 2019, the last time the test was given, 37.1% passed.
Early ILEARN results show expected academic declines from the pandemic
Because of state action earlier this year and federal waivers approved this week. However, poor results won’t affect accountability measurements such as school A-F grades, teacher evaluations, or identifying low-performing schools for intervention.
Schools must still give standardized tests this year, Biden administration says
The decision means that schools will have to find ways to safely administer tests to tens of millions of students, many of whom are still learning remotely.
College Board scrapping SAT’s optional essay, subject tests
The College Board announced Tuesday it will discontinue those assessments. Citing the coronavirus crisis, officials said the pandemic has “accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to simplify our work and reduce demands on students.”
Indiana releases A-F grades for schools, districts in quiet rollout
Without an exemption approved last month, most schools would have received a D or an F. That would have affected teacher’s evaluations, and therefore pay, and put many schools on the path to state intervention.
Indiana lawmakers back dropping tests in teacher evaluations
Indiana legislators have voted to end the mandatory use of student standardized test results in teacher evaluations, dropping a requirement long opposed by teachers.