INDIANAPOLIS — State lawmakers approved legislation Tuesday that would prevent the significant drop in student scores on the ISTEP standardized exam from affecting teacher performance pay or A-F school grades.
House Bill 1003, which requires teacher performance evaluations use the higher student pass rate from either the 2013-14 ISTEP test or the 2014-15 ISTEP, passed 95-1 and now goes to the Senate.
Senate Bill 200, which similarly holds schools harmless by maintaining their 2013-14 accountability grade for 2014-15 unless it went up, was approved 48-1 and now goes to the House.
Both proposals are set for committee review in the opposite chamber Wednesday. Final legislative votes are expected next week to send them to Republican Gov. Mike Pence, who has indicated he is likely to sign the measures into law.
Student performance on the annual test for grades three to eight dropped dramatically last year due to a rewrite of the state's academic standards and creation of a new test aligned to the more rigorous expectations.
Just 53.5 percent of test takers passed both the English and math exams, down from 74.7 percent the year before.
Administration of the ISTEP test also was plagued by last-minute changes, technology problems and scoring issues at CTB/McGraw-Hill, the state's test vendor.
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, who supported the hold harmless proposal, said he hopes the ISTEP problems lead lawmakers to reconsider how Indiana's high-stakes testing system is being used.
"It's not about meeting the needs of the students," Smith said. "It's about judging teachers, judging schools, judging students, but not helping them."