INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's standardized test for elementary and high school students is expected to be shorter next spring following revisions to better align the exam with the state's new standards for what children should learn.
Education officials told a panel of Hoosier lawmakers Tuesday the total ISTEP-Plus testing time for English and math in grades 3-8 will be approximately 5 hours, 45 minutes.
Students in fourth and sixth grades also will take a 1 hour, 45 minute science exam; while fifth- and seventh-graders will answer additional questions on a 1 hour, 36 minute social studies test.
Tenth-graders will spend a total of 8 hours, 30 minutes during the two, two-week testing periods taking exams in English, math and science.
Earlier this year, schoolchildren faced the prospect of a 12-hour ISTEP test after Hoosier lawmakers and Gov. Mike Pence removed Indiana from Common Core State Standards and mandated the Indiana State Board of Education in 2014 adopt "the highest standards in the United States."
The new Indiana-only standards required a new test aligned to them, which prevented re-use of many prior ISTEP test questions and necessitated a longer first-year exam to try out new questions intended to be used on future tests.
Public outrage in February over the doubling of the test's length spurred the General Assembly and Pence to approve temporary fixes that cut the test's duration to about nine hours.
Michele Walker, director of student assessment at the Indiana Department of Education, said only a small, voluntary sample of schools will be needed next year to participate in the new question development process — reducing overall test times across-the-board.
However, Walker said there still is some apprehension about next year's ISTEP because Indiana has chosen education testing giant Pearson Education to replace the problem-plagued CTB/McGraw-Hill as test administrator.
"Transitions are the hardest part of being the state's assessment director," said Walker, who heads weekly conference calls with both companies working out details of the changeover. "It certainly is a long journey, but it's one that we monitor very, very closely."
Rich Young, Pearson vice president of state services, told state Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, and other members of the Legislature's Interim Study Committee on Education, that Pearson is readying a test that will be more stable and consistent over time and efficient for test-takers.
He also said Pearson's electronic testing system is more than capable of handling Indiana's testing population and won't be affected by connection glitches that delayed ISTEP testing in the past.
"We feel very confident that platform, which we will use here for the ISTEP, will be successful," Young said.