State Releases ISTEP Scores
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Results of last fall's ISTEP+ tests show that almost 70 percent of high school sophomores in Kosciusko County will graduate after their first attempt at the required exam.
However, that means another 30 percent will have to continue taking the test until they pass.
The Indiana Department of Education released scores last week to individual school corporations.
The students who did not pass the test in their sophomore year last fall will have two chances to take the test again in their junior year and another two chances in their senior year.
The state started the qualifying exam last year for the class of 2000. Students must pass the exam during high school before then can graduate.
In Kosciusko County, the breakdown for high school sophomores is:
Warsaw Community High School: math - 66 percent above state standards, 30 percent below, 4 percent undetermined; language arts - 76 percent above, 21 percent below, 3 percent undetermined.
Wawasee High School: math - 70 percent above, 29 percent below, 1 percent undetermined; language arts - 78 percent above, 20 percent below, 2 percent undetermined.
Figures were not available for Tippecanoe Valley, Triton and Whitko school corporations.
Statewide, the scores for 10th grade math were 77 percent above standards, and for language arts were 70 percent above.
Wawasee's scores are almost identical to last year's; Warsaw's are slightly higher than last year's.
Warsaw's assistant superintendent, Dr. Anthony Etienne, said some students may need to take both math and language arts tests again, while other students may have to take only one of the tests to graduate.
Mark Stock, superintendent of Wawasee Community Schools, said the results were not a surprise: "They're right about in line with what we expected."
He also emphasized that the high school ISTEP+ test is taken in the sophomore year.
"The community must understand that the ISTEP is not a senior level graduation exam but a test given the fall of 10th grade which tests their ninth-grade learning," he said.
Jennifer Brumfield, assistant principal at WCHS, said school administrators are not satisfied with the results.
"Our goal is to have 100 percent pass," she said.
Some state legislators are talking about doing away with the test since scores statewide have been disappointingly low.
"It's become a political hot potato," Brumfield said. "I really don't want to see them do away with it, but we do need some changes. ... There are some special needs students who are not capable of passing that test. That's the ones that we're working on helping."
Stock agreed that the test should not stop.
"I absolutely think they should continue it," he said. "I guess what I'm afraid of is that the state legislature never leaves anything alone long enough for us to work at it." [[In-content Ad]]
Results of last fall's ISTEP+ tests show that almost 70 percent of high school sophomores in Kosciusko County will graduate after their first attempt at the required exam.
However, that means another 30 percent will have to continue taking the test until they pass.
The Indiana Department of Education released scores last week to individual school corporations.
The students who did not pass the test in their sophomore year last fall will have two chances to take the test again in their junior year and another two chances in their senior year.
The state started the qualifying exam last year for the class of 2000. Students must pass the exam during high school before then can graduate.
In Kosciusko County, the breakdown for high school sophomores is:
Warsaw Community High School: math - 66 percent above state standards, 30 percent below, 4 percent undetermined; language arts - 76 percent above, 21 percent below, 3 percent undetermined.
Wawasee High School: math - 70 percent above, 29 percent below, 1 percent undetermined; language arts - 78 percent above, 20 percent below, 2 percent undetermined.
Figures were not available for Tippecanoe Valley, Triton and Whitko school corporations.
Statewide, the scores for 10th grade math were 77 percent above standards, and for language arts were 70 percent above.
Wawasee's scores are almost identical to last year's; Warsaw's are slightly higher than last year's.
Warsaw's assistant superintendent, Dr. Anthony Etienne, said some students may need to take both math and language arts tests again, while other students may have to take only one of the tests to graduate.
Mark Stock, superintendent of Wawasee Community Schools, said the results were not a surprise: "They're right about in line with what we expected."
He also emphasized that the high school ISTEP+ test is taken in the sophomore year.
"The community must understand that the ISTEP is not a senior level graduation exam but a test given the fall of 10th grade which tests their ninth-grade learning," he said.
Jennifer Brumfield, assistant principal at WCHS, said school administrators are not satisfied with the results.
"Our goal is to have 100 percent pass," she said.
Some state legislators are talking about doing away with the test since scores statewide have been disappointingly low.
"It's become a political hot potato," Brumfield said. "I really don't want to see them do away with it, but we do need some changes. ... There are some special needs students who are not capable of passing that test. That's the ones that we're working on helping."
Stock agreed that the test should not stop.
"I absolutely think they should continue it," he said. "I guess what I'm afraid of is that the state legislature never leaves anything alone long enough for us to work at it." [[In-content Ad]]