SYRACUSE – The Wawasee Community School Corp. will no longer be evaluated by state tests only. A resolution adopted Tuesday night by the school board directs the utilization of other available measures. Schools are currently given grades from A-F based on student scores on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress test, or ISTEP. This standard is still being used despite adoption in 2010 of the national Common Core standards. However, the state has yet to develop an assessment test for these. Superintendent Tom Edington presented his resolution as an alternative to what he said is an inadequate system. This scoring system is based, the resolution states, “without regard to numerous factors that affect those scores, including but not limited to the number of students living in poverty, the number of students learning the English language, the number of students with special needs, the extent of parental involvement, lack of assessment of Common Core curriculum knowledge and validity of the ISTEP examination.” Five years ago the corporation started assessing schools and students using guidelines from Northwest Evaluation Association. The results did not always align with those from the state’s grading system, but the corporation preferred that system to one they consider flawed. ISTEP will still be administered as set by state law, but results from that test will hold little weight at Wawasee compared to ones from NWEA assessments. “We could be the groundbreakers,” Edington stated, adding that they will still administer the ISTEP, “because they’re the ones who administer the checks! The ISTEP is a political tool more than an educational one.” The resolution concludes that the school corporation board of trustees “directs the utilization of the Northwest Evaluation Association assessment and other available measures to develop the criteria for recognizing continuous improvement and the quality of its instruction.” Also during the meeting, the board watched a segment from South Bend ABC57 News about a student program at Wawasee High School in the station’s report on the effects of recent suicides. PEER Facilitators, a mentoring program that matches juniors and seniors with freshmen, is set to begin Oct. 1, with the aim of guiding young students through the stress of a new environment. Principal Mike Schmidt said, “It’s all about a new year and a fresh start.” He explained the current program is made up of 16 student mentors who undergo at least 50 hours of training. All freshmen will be paired with a mentor who will guide them through day-to-day activities at the high school. For example, he said, mentors might sit with new students at lunch, an event that can be challenging to the uninitiated. The program does not focus on suicide as the show suggested, he added. The program will deal with the potentially stressful areas of attendance, grades, social media, fights, depression and home issues. The students interviewed on the television segment are Michael Peña, Hannah Winters, Caitlin Clevenger and Ali Ousley. They, and others, will be interviewed again at the end of the school year. In other business, the board: • Adopted next year’s budget. There was no comment or discussion. • Accepted donations of 100 backpacks from Knights of Columbus. • Accepted a $7,000 donation from the Syracuse PTO for new iPads. • Approved an overnight trip for the FFA Horticulture Judging Team to either Wisconsin or Williamsburg, Va.
