By VICKI URBANIK

The Indiana Department of Education today released the results from the fall ISTEP-plus tests given in September, and the results show that Duneland students overall fared better than the state average in all grade levels.

The statewide results are available on the DOE’s webpage at www.doe.in.gov/istep

 The DOE also is providing parents with a new online program in which they can see details about their student’s individual results and obtain information for teaching resources. Families will be given log-in information from their schools to use at  www.doe.in.gov/istepparentnetwork

For the Duneland School district as a whole, the results show the following:

Third grade: 85 percent passed the English/language arts portion of the test, compared to the state average of 74 percent. In math, 80 percent passed, compared to the state average of 70 percent.

Fourth grade: 81 percent passed English, compared to the state average of 73 percent. In math, 77 percent passed, compared to the state average of 73 percent.

Fifth grade: 83 percent passed English, compared with the state average of 74 percent. In math, 81 percent passed, compared with the state average of 77 percent.

Sixth grade: 77 percent passed English, compared with the state average of 71 percent. In math, 87 percent passed, compared with the state average of 79 percent.

Seventh grade: 80 percent passed English, compared with the state average of 69 percent. In math, 90 percent passed, compared with the state average of 81 percent.

Eighth grade: 76 percent passed English, compared with the state average of 68 percent. In math, 84 percent passed, compared with the state average of 74 percent.

Tenth grade: 81 percent passed English, compared with the state average of 67 percent. In math, 76 percent passed, compared with the state average of 65 percent.

There are few individual school results worth noting. The ISTEP’s passing results are broken down into two categories, one of which is “pass plus,” which refers to the highest level possible of passing scores. Several Duneland grades posted unusually large pass-plus scores, the highest  one of which was at Liberty Intermediate School, where 31 percent of the sixth graders achieved the pass-plus designation in math.

Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said he was overall pleased with Duneland’s scores.

“I think our students performed well, and the teachers had prepared them well,” he said.

The following is a school-by-school breakdown showing the showing the percentage of students who   either “passed” the ISTEP tests, or achieved the higher rating of “pass plus.” In some instances, the two percentages combined are a percentage point above or below the total passing mark that’s also reported in the DOE data.

Bailly Elementary

Third grade: 67 percent passed and  17 percent were pass plus in English; 64 percent passed and 19 percent were pass plus in math.

Fourth grade: 63 percent passed and 16 percent were pass plus in English;  59 percent passed and 16 percent were pass plus in math.

Brummitt Elementary

Third grade: 69 percent passed and 17 percent were pass plus in English;  64 percent passed and 12 percent were pass plus in math.

Fourth grade: 60 percent passed and  11 percent were pass plus in English;  60 percent passed and  8 percent were pass plus in math.

Jackson Elementary

Third grade: 56 percent passed English, and another 30 percent achieved pass plus; 74 percent passed math, and another 16 percent were pass plus.

Fourth grade: 67 percent passed and 23 percent were pass plus in English;  67 percent passed and 20 percent were pass plus in math.

Liberty Elementary

Third grade: 61 passed and  25 percent were pass plus in English; 61 percent passed and 14 percent were pass plus in math.

Fourth grade: 71 percent passed and 13 percent were pass plus in English; 62 percent passed and 13 percent were pass plus in math.

Yost Elementary

Third grade: 69 percent passed and 12 percent were pass plus in English; 66 percent passed and 13 percent were pass plus in math.

Fourth grade: 68 percent passed and 13 percent were pass plus in English; 75 percent passed and 8 percent were pass plus in math.

WIS

Fifth grade: 70 percent passed and 12 percent were pass plus in English; 68 percent passed and 12 percent were pass plus in math.

Sixth grade: 68 percent passed and 11 percent were pass plus in English;  65 percent passed and  21 percent were pass plus in math.

LIS

Fifth grade: 71 percent passed and 13 percent were pass plus in English; 66 percent passed and 18 percent were pass plus in math.

Sixth grade: 68 percent passed and 7 percent were pass plus in English;  58 percent passed and  31 percent were pass plus in math.

CMS

Seventh grade: 66 percent passed and 14 percent were pass plus in English; 61  percent passed and 29 percent were pass plus in math.

Eighth grade: 69 percent passed and 6 percent were pass plus in English; 62 percent passed and 22 percent were pass plus in math.

CHS

Tenth grade: 79 passed and  2 percent were pass plus in English; 68 percent passed and 9 percent were pass plus in math.

 

State ISTEP results show slight decline

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Statewide student testing results showed a slight decline from last year in most grades, but the state schools chief said Thursday the difference was not statistically significant.

Overall, about 71 percent of those in grades 3-10 passed the English portion of the ISTEP exam this fall, while 74 percent passed the math section, the Indiana Department of Education said. The English passing rate was down about 1 percentage point from last year, while the math passing rate held steady compared to 2007.

“It’s not a significant difference,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed said. “The point is, we just want to do better.”

English passing rates were down 1 point in all but one grade, which held steady. Mathematics results were mixed, with most grades holding steady or down slightly. The seventh grade math passing rate rose 2 percentage points from last year.

The overall passing rate for the science portion of the test was about 60 percent, about the same as last year.

Reed said widespread flooding during testing in September might have played a role in the decline, since many schools were closed or disrupted and several had to reschedule testing. At the time, Reed said that students’ safety took precedence over the testing.

Students will take a second round of ISTEP exams in the spring as the state moves from fall to spring testing. Reed said the double testing this year should help educators more accurately judge which students need help and give them assistance when they need it.

She said more important than the results was what teachers, students and parents did with them, and officials unveiled a new section of the Department of Education’s Web site where parents can log in securely to view their children’s ISTEP test results and tap educational resources.

Schools will send parents an invitation code so they can access the Web site, after which they can set up their own personal user name and password, said Wes Bruce, who oversees testing for the Indiana Department of Education. As time passes, parents will be able to compare their children’s assessments from one year to the next.

It was the longtime state schools chief’s last time to make the annual announcement of the ISTEP results as she is leaving office next month after not seeking re-election this year to a fifth term.

Reed didn’t directly say whether she was satisfied with the progress made on ISTEP scores during her 16 years in office, but noted that scores have for the most part held steady while the test has been made more difficult over time.

“Of course, we need to do better, and until we have 100 percent passing, we’ll never be satisfied,” Reed said. “We’re going to have to work. This is just something that we have to do. It’s something that has to be done and it’s a lot of work.”

 

Posted 12/5/2008