After getting a look at their districts' preliminary scores, dozens of Indiana public school superintendents publicly criticized the state’s standardized test last week, some referring to it with words including "boondoggle," "botched" and "fiasco."
On Friday, State House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, said he and other legislators share some of the same concerns.
“We’re very cognizant of the issue,” he said by phone.
School leaders have cited problems with the test that include inadequate time to prepare for changes in education standards made after Indiana withdrew from the national Common Core State Standards, passing scores that they say were arbitrarily chosen, and hours added to the testing time that made it more burdensome on students and staff.
Among other things, Behning said, “lawmakers are concerned about teachers and the impact on teachers. No question, we were not happy with the implementation of ISTEP.”
He said he’ll have a bill ready in the first week or two of the new legislative session that will remove the ISTEP as a component of teachers’ evaluations for this year. He calls it a ‘transition-year adjustment.’
Along the same lines, another bill will deal with ISTEP scores’ impact on the accountability timeline for schools.
“We’ll look at different ways of trying to soften the blow,” he said.
Behning said he’s also frustrated by the fact that the school year is almost half over and ISTEP results are just now being delivered.
“It’s tough to hold anyone accountable,” he said, “when we don’t even tell you until halfway through the school year how you performed.”
He said he’ll also pursue legislation that would require that ISTEP results be delivered in a more timely fashion.
Another lawmaker who was in South Bend on Friday for a legislative preview at the chamber, echoed Behning’s sentiments.