The majority of Johnson County students didn’t reach proficiency in both math and English language arts on the newly-introduced state standardized test.
The results in Johnson County from the first year of testing using the ILEARN exam mirror a state-wide average showing students had trouble adjusting to the exam, which was both computer-based and adaptive to how students did throughout the exam. The exam replaced the ISTEP test for students in third through eighth grade this year.
Statewide, the only tests the majority of students tested proficient in were third- and fourth-grade math and eighth-grade English language arts, commonly known as ELA, according to testing data.
The results prompted the Indiana Department of Education to push for a one-year delay from state legislators under the direction of Gov. Eric Holcomb. If the measure is approved, the ILEARN scores won’t have an effect on how the department of education grades schools or how teachers are evaluated. The test, which most students took in increments over a two-week period, was more rigorous than what was seen on the ISTEP. Some of that rigor was intended to prepare students for high school curricula. In the math exams, for example, there was a greater emphasis on algebraic functions.
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During a news conference Aug. 28 at the Indiana Statehouse, Indiana Department of Education Superintendent Jennifer McCormick also requested legislators pause the intervention timeline for struggling schools. Under the intervention timeline, schools that receive a failing grade four years in a row require department of education intervention. Lastly, McCormick asked lawmakers to create an emergency rule-making committee to discuss state accountability, the system on which schools are graded.
Indiana operates under a different accountability system than the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is the federal accountability standard.
In Johnson County, students at Edinburgh Community Schools struggled the most with the new exam. Less than a quarter of students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade were proficient in both math and English language arts. Students struggled the most in eighth-grade math, with 23.6 percent of students passing. Overall, 28.5 percent of students in all grade levels were proficient in both.
Although administrators will look at how the schools can improve, the community shouldn’t panic because there are decreases in proficiency statewide and the exam is not a reliable indicator of a student’s growth, Superintendent Doug Arnold said.
“We are digging down into the specific grade levels and standards to see what areas we need to work on and strengths in ELA and math,” Arnold said. “The jury’s still out as to how reliable and valid the assessments are.”
The department of education is talking to school administrators around the state to see if there are ways they can improve the exam, McCormick said.
“We have a group always taking feedback from the exam,” McCormick said. “The exam is reliable, it’s valid, but we’re always looking for improvement.”
Despite the challenges of adapting to a new exam, Center Grove Community Schools prepared its students well, said Nora Hoover, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. The school district had the highest marks in the county, with nearly 68 percent of test takers earning proficiency in math, and 63 percent being proficient in English language arts.
"I’m really proud of the building test coordinators; they were phenomenal. It was difficult work," Hoover said. "The department of education was incredibly proactive. The teachers did a great job in the classroom managing the new system and level of rigor."
Other Johnson County superintendents were frustrated with the continuous changes in state testing, the most recent of which was a change in format for the ISTEP in 2015. Those changes are frustrating for teachers and students as they have to constantly adjust to new assessments, Greenwood superintendent Kent DeKoninck said.
“Each year it continues to be difficult to put much stock into the exams at all,” DeKoninck said. “This continually puts schools, teachers and educators in a state of paralysis because it’s continually evolving and changing.”
Having exams more than once a year would be a better indicator of academic progress, said Tim Edsell, superintendent of Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson schools.
"What bothers me about ILEARN is it is one snapshot during an entire school year of trying to quantify what students have learned throughout the year," Edsell said. "I’m not opposed to assessments, but I believe in having more periodic assessments. Three, four, five, six times a year shows growth, looking at every child’s performance and making sure they are on the right track."
About 100 educators came together to plan the ILEARN exam, which cost $10 million to develop, said Charity Flores, the state department of education’s director of assessment.
“We wanted to leverage best practices to ensure coherence, efficiency and make sure students are college and career ready,” Flores said. “ILEARN used a technical advisory committee. They were with us throughout the process to make sure there was validity and reliability. That was the expectation undertaken throughout the phases of development.”
Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, supports the one-year delay of relying on results, he said in a written statement.
"I believe in our teachers and schools and know they are working hard to benefit our kids," Bray said. "As such, I’m in favor of delaying the impact of the ILEARN scores for a year as schools and teachers continue to adjust to this new exam."
At Franklin Community Schools, more than 60 percent of students were proficient in sixth-grade English language arts, but less than 38 percent of students were proficient on both the English and math exams combined in fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth grade. Franklin schools will look at the results in order to help mold curriculum, but wants consistency in state testing moving forward, Superintendent David Clendening said.
“Essential learning will be the thing we focus on, looking at what’s most important in certain areas and bringing resources around that,” Clendening said. “I think with the test itself, I want consistency. If this is the test we’re going to have let’s be consistent. Let’s not keep changing.”
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What is ILEARN? An annual statewide computer-based test that measures a student’s grasp on math and English language arts. The test replaced the ISTEP exam this year.
Who took it? All third through eighth graders. Fourth and sixth graders also took a science section. Fifth graders took a social studies section. Some high school students took biology and U.S. government sections, but did not take math or English language arts.
What do the results mean? If a student is proficient, they’ve met the state standards in mastering knowledge of subject matter at their grade level. If state lawmakers pass a hold harmless, teachers will not be held accountable and schools will not be graded based on this year’s results.
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