It has become the Hoosierland’s Frankenstein. The creature that defines public education in Indiana.
The Indiana Statewide Testing for Education Progress aka ISTEP. Yes, the annual testing of Hoosier students has undergone a radical change from its initial incarnation 28 years ago. ISTEP at first was just a statewide multiple choice reading test for grades 1-3 and 6, 8 and 9.
Then, 20 years ago, Republican Supt. of Public Instruction Dr. Sue Ellen Reed, along with strong support from Democratic Gov. Evan Bayh and a bipartisan majority in the Indiana Legislature, approved the creation of ISTEP-Plus a statewide test that would measure the learning of Hoosier students.
In 1995, ISTEP-Plus only measured student achievement in grades 3, 6, 8 and 10, with the 10th grade test serving as a high school “exit exam.” It later expanded from third to eighth grade.
Most don’t realize it, but Title 20, Article 32, Section 5 of the Indiana State Code, defines and mandates ISTEP. And the law includes providing help to students who don’t initially pass ISTEP.
I dare say in many schools that’s not happening! Funds for remediation in many school districts have suffered because of cutbacks in education funding by the GOP majority Legislatures.
Within all the hype of ISTEP testing today in Indiana, you don’t hear a word said about remediation.
Instead, in the name of “education reform and accountability” ISTEP has become this ultra-high pressure test where the fate of students, teachers, principals, districts and politicians are based upon results.
This is far from ISTEP’s original purpose which was to measure how well or not students were learning the material in their respective grades.
Last week, Gov. Mike Pence was angry, like nearly everyone in Indiana who learned students would spend an aggregated total of between 11 and 12 hours over several weeks taking ISTEP. Last year’s test ran some five hours over the same number of weeks.
Hoosiers were upset. However, mainstream media forgot to mention four years ago Indiana was warned this would happen.
That’s when, under former Gov. Mitch Daniels and Supt. Dr. Tony Bennett, it was revealed that going to the Common Core standards, which were harder than Indiana’s then academic standards, would result in a harder ISTEP test.
Under pressure from Pence and GOP legislators, Indiana then created its “own” difficult standards, which mandated more ISTEP test questions and inevitably, a longer test.
Meanwhile, the Indiana State Board of Education acts horrified by the whole ISTEP mess like they’re innocent bystanders at the appearance of a unforeseen monstrosity.
However, they’ve been one of the midwives present at the birthing of ISTEP into a monster test of new, untested state standards which have confused teachers, parents and most importantly, Hoosier schoolchildren.
The State Board and Pence’s stubbornness in refusing to permit a test dry run of the new ISTEP is one reason this year’s elongated version is filled with test questions for future years.
Indiana’s leaders say they’re being serious about ISTEP, yet they’ve never leveled with Hoosiers about it. When the decision went down that ISTEP was going to become harder, neither the Governor, State Board of Education, or Supt. Ritz did any serious media outreach statewide to explain and tell Hoosiers what was happening and why.
For the past 10 years, I’ve created for our radio stations an annual public service campaign informing our community, especially parents and students about ISTEP’s importance. Our stations have donated over $1 million in airtime in that effort.
The state has not made any effort to encourage Hoosier media to uplift an explain ISTEP and encourage cooperation.
Despite how well Indiana’s teachers teach and Indiana’s students perform on ISTEP, mark my words, this year’s ISTEP will be a train wreck!
If your kids don’t pass ISTEP, flood schools with requests for that parent/teacher conference and demand remediation. Not just from your child’s school, but from the architects of this mess – the Governor, Legislators, State Education Board and Supt. Ritz!
What I’m Hearing in the Streets
Indiana has a simple law. If you own and live in your home you’re entitled to a property tax break called the Homestead Credit. That law and changing residences has ensnared Republican mayoral candidate Chuck Brewer.
When Brewer moved to Indy in March 2011, he bought a condo at the old downtown Indianapolis Athletic Club. Brewer received a homestead credit because he lived there.
Last summer, Brewer filled out a voter registration form saying he lived at an apartment in Perry Township. A couple of months later, Brewer moved to another apartment west of Southport High School. By moving to a rented apartment, Brewer was no longer eligible for the homestead credit for his condo.
According to real estate website Zillow.com, Brewer’s been trying to sell the downtown condo for nearly a year, with no takers.
Republican mayoral candidate Jocelyn-Tandy Adande and blogger Gary Welsh have raised questions about Brewer’s residency.
If Brewer is serious about being an open, honest, trustworthy and responsible potential mayor he’ll make himself available to the public to explain this situation.
See ‘ya next week!
You can email Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
