Today's the day ISTEP scores are released; But what do they really mean for schools?

“It is what it is,” said North Knox superintendent Darrel Bobe. “There's been so much talked about in regards to these scores. I just don't think people are going to put too much emphasis on it all right now.

“I know I won't.”

Problems arose almost immediately last spring when the new, more-rigorous test was given to students in grades three through eight. Changes were made in the test after national Common Core State Standards were scrapped in favor of new, Indiana-written guidelines.

State educators warned that the scores, in many cases, wouldn't be good because of the higher degree of difficulty.

Lower grades would negatively affect individual building and corporations' letter grades as well as teacher pay.

Student scores were released to school corporations and to parents weeks ago, and thousands of re-scores were requested.

Those still aren't done, according to the DOE, but they're releasing the scores nonetheless, albeit it with a caveat that says they could change once the re-scores are finished.

The results released today show that 53.5 of students passed both sections in 2015, compared with 74.7 percent of students passing both sections in 2014.

Glenda Ritz, state Superintendent of Public Instruction, asked that scores be taken in stride and that parents be helped to understand that the test was harder this time around.

The Indiana Board of Education is scheduled to meet Jan. 19 to consider what grades to give school districts. The Associated Press reported that the department of education has sent preliminary A-F school ratings to districts.

Senate Bill 200 would give building grades a “hold harmless” designation, meaning there would be no consequences felt for failing schools.

Ritz, a supporter of the legislation, said it still has her “strong support” in a letter sent out to superintendents this week.

“This hold harmless approach prevents unnecessary economic harm to our schools and communities,” she writes.

Greg Parsley, superintendent of the Vincennes Community School Corp., however, disagrees.

The general public might be quick to disregard a bunch of percentages they, admittedly, don't fully understand, but a single letter grade, whether fair or not, will be difficult to overlook, he argues.

“Even if they hold harmless, somebody looking into a community will see that letter grade and maybe they won't know what has materialized in the last year,” he said. “That's why I wish they wouldn't even release them.

“Letter grades mean something to everybody,” Parsley said. “You may not totally understand the concept of ISTEP, but you understand letter grades. We've all had them.”

Parsley said school officials have seen the preliminary letter grades.

Bobe says he won't give those grades much consideration — and he hopes others won't either.

“Honestly, I just don't put much stock into all this,” he said. “We're starting a new standard. There will be a lot of schools that don't show very well. And there will be some that do.

“And even if they don't have consequences, read between the lines. Why put a grade on it at all then? It's all just political.”

Parsley said, too, there is both “positive and negative” information that will be released to the public regarding the VCSC's performance last spring. But at the end of it all, there is much to be learned from all this, too.

“We will use this to our advantage,” Parsley said. “We cannot completely dismiss these scores as there is important information to glean from them.

“But more than anything, I'm just ready to be done with it all and move on.”

Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced last fall that he supported a one-year break in linking teacher pay raises to the ISTEP results because of the changes.

Ritz, a Democrat, is again urging a change in the way the tests are used, saying that school's accountability grades should be determined by more than test scores.