Editor’s Note: Four area school superintendents sent a shared letter in response to the results of the 2019 ILEARN that were released by the Indiana Department of Education. The results were published in Thursday’s Times-Union. No area school scored more than two-thirds competency in any of the areas of testing – English language arts, math, science and social studies. Their letter follows:
Dear Kosciusko County Parents And Shareholders:
The Indiana Department of Education recently released scores from the latest version of state testing. The results of ILEARN indicated lower achievement levels across the state and in our county. Although lower scores can be expected with a new test, it is frustrating that scores don’t reflect the hard work of our students and teachers. Our school districts use other assessments for students, and those tests reflect a gradual increase in student achievement.
As superintendents in Kosciusko County, we are pleased that Governor Holcomb, State Superintendent McCormick and many legislators are supporting a one-year pause from impacting school grades and teacher evaluations. We further hope that the governor and legislators will go back to the practice of using assessments to assist individual students, rather than to grade schools. There are more efficient ways to gauge student progress and use the results to improve instruction.
As your superintendents, we believe in being accountable to our children and communities. ILEARN and previous state tests aren’t and haven’t worked, cost a lot of money and don’t provide timely and useful information to help teachers. We can do better for the children of our county and the state.
Sincerely,
Blaine Conley, superintendent, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation; Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent, Warsaw Community Schools; Dr. Brandon Penrod, superintendent, Whitko Community School Corporation; Dr. Thomas Edington, superintendent, Wawasee Community Schools.
