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Sophomores across the state will take a test next week that may be the most important one they face in high school.
The class of 2000 is the first to take the ISTEP+ High School Graduation Qualifying Exam, which evaluates essential math and English skills. Students must pass the test to qualify for an Indiana high school diploma.
The exam will be given over 11-1/2 hours Sept. 22-26. Students who do not pass the math and/or English sections will have two opportunities each their junior and senior years to retake the sections they failed.
Applied skills are a big part of ISTEP+, which, according to Superintendent of Education Suellen Reed, is not like previous standardized tests. Students will demonstrate their knowledge, as well as their problem-solving abilities, by responding to short-answer, mulitiple choice and essay questions.
The Indiana Department of Education sent mailings to parents to inform them of the upcoming exam. And area guidance counselors have been busy since school started - and even before - getting ready for this milestone test.
Administrators from Wawasee, like many other schools, talked to students about the test, even as early as last year. Sophomores in the Warsaw school system were able to get information on the Tiger Hotline and also attended convocations on what to expect from the test. Students at Manchester High School went over a practice test Wednesday to help them get a feel for the real thing.
Many students are understandably apprehensive about next week's test.
"A large majority of students are nervous," said Sandy Carmichael, guidance counselor at Warsaw Community High School. "Any time it counts for graduation there's a certain concern that comes with it. Some act like they don't care, but I think that's just a cover-up."
Others, however, seem indifferent. "... I'm worried about what we perceived as not taking it seriously," said Dave Owen, ninth- and 10th-grade counselor at MHS. "It might be a rude awakening for some of these kids when they have to take it again."
By taking the exam for the first time in their sophomore year, students who need help can be identified and given the help they need before graduation. Results of the testing will be provided to schools in January so remediation may begin.
Once a section is passed, that section does not have to be taken again.
Since it is the first year for the test, neither school has a remediation plan firmly in place.
"We have no idea how many will pass. Part of our difficulty in planning remediation (is) we just don't know how many to count on," said Carmichael.
But with four more opportunities to take the test, students should have time to improve their weak areas and qualify for their diplomas.
"I would be very disappointed if a kid goes through remediation and can't pass in five attempts," Owen said
