ISTEP scores released today by the state indicate a double-digit decline in the passing percentage over last year. In 2013-14, 74 percent of public school students across Indiana passed both the English/Language Arts and Math standardized tests. The 2014-15 scores indicate only 52-percent of public school students made the grade on both tests. Both percentages are slightly higher when private and charter school students are factored in.
The test administered last spring was considered more challenging, and educators have been saying for months the scores would reflect accordingly. State lawmakers are now looking for ways to shield school corporations and teachers from the drop in scores. Momentum is growing to scrap the test entirely and come up with another means of student assessment.
Schools in Marshall County followed the trend of sharp declines in test scores, but for the most part fared better than the statewide average. The Culver Community School Corporation is the exception. Only 44.8 percent of students there passed both the English/Language Arts and Math tests. That’s a decline of 32.5 percent, which is also the sharpest decline locally. Bremen fared best, comparatively speaking, with only a 16.6 percent drop in the ISTEP passing percentage. Argos Community Schools had the highest local passing percentage for both tests at 58.9 percent.
2015 ISTEP Scores By Corporation
