INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
Half a million students took Indiana’s new standardized exam this year, and
educators are worried that the scores could create problems for schools and
teachers who will be also graded based on their students’ results.
Schools and parents
can request a rescore of the grade 3-8 students’ ILEARN exam results, but
state law requires them to accept the final result. So if a rescore grades
the student lower than the original results, that’s what they are stuck
with, The Indianapolis Star reported.
To compound the
issue, they have until July 31 to request a rescore of hand-graded portions
- the bulk of the exam is multiple choice and that cannot be rescored - but
final test results won’t be delivered until Aug. 15.
“You’re really
rolling the dice by requesting a rescore in some situations,” said Andrea
Korreck, principal at Northwood Elementary School in Franklin.
Some educators say
the schools and teachers themselves have the most at stake when it comes to
the end-of-year exams.
School letter
grades, assigned by the state, are based largely on those results and are
the basis for possible state intervention for low-scoring schools.
Teachers are not
involved in the rescore process. But student performance on these tests is
tied to teacher evaluations, where teachers are rated as highly effective,
effective, improvement necessary or ineffective. Ratings can impact teacher
pay, bonuses and hiring.
“It’s just kind of
an unknown and yet so much rides on our scores and on our letter grades,”
Korreck said.
ILEARN was
administered for the first time this year, replacing the state’s
much-maligned ISTEP exam.
State Department of
Education spokesman Adam Baker said the department will determine levels of
proficiency, or “cut scores,” after this year’s scores are in, which will
set the pass/fail line.
Baker said
information on how many people traditionally request rescores wasn’t
available because the department no longer contracts with the previous test
vendor, Pearson.