A light bulb came on the Indiana Statehouse this week.
Some leading state senators realized that going it alone on school standards could be expensive for Indiana — to the tune of $20 million extra.
In response, three Republican senators have introduced a bill calling for Indiana to use an “off the shelf” test to replace what we now know as ISTEP+.
In December, state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz estimated a new version of our ISTEP+ test could cost $65 million. That compares to $45 million in past years.
The new version of ISTEP+ would have to match Indiana’s new state educational standards, which our Legislature ordered a year ago.
Because Indiana’s new standards are different from every other state, it seems we would need a custom-built test.
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, is sponsoring the bill to use a less-expensive test. But earlier, he was on board the bandwagon to reject the Common Core educational standards that are being adopted by more than 40 states.
Indiana legislators and others opposed a one-size-fits-all, nationwide approach to education. But rugged independence doesn’t come cheap.
During a state budget hearing last month, Kenley asked Ritz about the possibility of using an existing national test rather than one made exclusively for Indiana.
“I keep thinking and wondering whether or not we’re making it too hard, too expensive on ourselves as to whether we can’t give a standardized test that’s been built by someone else,” Kenley said.
Danielle Shockey, Ritz’s deputy superintendent, told a House committee last week that because Indiana has created its own standards, an “off-the-shelf” test won’t work.
But many observers have said Indiana’s new standards are not significantly different from Common Core State Standards, anyway. At first, that came as a complaint. Now, it could turn out to be a financial blessing.
Indiana’s standards would have to be revised to work with an off-the-shelf test, Kenley admitted.
Ironically, the revisions likely would take us even closer to the controversial Common Core.
Some legislators are asking another key question about using a test unique to Indiana: How would we compare the performance of our students to other states? How would we know if Indiana’s supposedly higher education standards were producing better results?
Reports out of Indianapolis last week indicate that legislators don’t know what they want. They seem to want contradictory outcomes — unique Indiana standards that can be tested cheaply and compared nationally.
The idea that Indiana should use its own, higher standards for schools sounds noble at first. Now, our legislators are recognizing that it comes with a high price. They could do a lot of other things for education with $20 million besides spending it on a custom test.