Indiana continues to try and get it right with educational standards. Indeed, the state that decided to go it alone, its way, last year, struggles now to get it right.
A year after coming face to face with federal education standards, after going with its own new academic standards, and after dropping out of the Common Core State Standards, Indiana is looking now at going with a shorter ISTEP standardized test for Indiana schoolchildren. That is the result of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's decision to hire a consultant to examine the length of the tests.
Pence's decision came as the result of growing concern from educators and parents on the length of the new ISTEP test, which is more than double the length of last spring's ISTEP test. On Monday, Pence said the length of the test now is "unacceptable," according to a news report by Courier & Press staff writer Chelsea Schneider. He said lengthening the test works a hardship on children, on families and on teachers.
It is noteworthy that Daniel Altman, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Education, said, "As you know last year Indiana passed new academic standards. The governor called for, in his words, ‘uncommonly high standards.' Well, if you have standards that are uncommonly high, you have to have an assessment that is aligned to them."
Altman said he hasn't seen the governor's order from Monday, but he called it another example of the Pence administration working around the Democratic school superintendent, Glenda Ritz.
And the beat goes on.