Despite the state’s problems with online ISTEP+ testing last school year, scores at Warsaw Community Schools slightly improved over the previous year. Amy Sivley, WCS chief accountability officer, reported state test scores to the school board Monday night. Along with ISTEP+, she reported on End of Course Assessments and the Indiana Modified Achievement Standards Test. Students in third through eighth grade take ISTEP+ in math and English/language arts (ELA). Students in fourth and sixth grade take the science portion of ISTEP+, while fifth- and seventh-graders take the social studies portion. Claypool Elementary has seen its math and ELA scores go up every year since the school reopened for the 2010-11 school year. Math went from 67.9 percent passing in 2011 to 85.3 percent in 2012 and 87.5 percent in 2013. ELA scores increased from 79.8 percent passing in 2011 to 84.7 percent in 2012 and 86.2 percent in 2013. Eisenhower saw a dip in math in 2011, Sivley said, but over the last two years the school’s scores have continued to grow. The school’s math scores were 87.9 percent passing in 2010, 83.3 percent in 2011, 82.3 percent in 2012 and 87.3 percent in 2013. The ELA passing rates were 85.8 percent in 2010, 90.2 percent in 2011, 89.2 percent in 2012 and 91.1 percent in 2013. Some gains were seen at Harrison, but the elementary had a slight dip this year in ELA of about 1 percent, Sivley stated. Math scores were 69.5 percent passing in 2010, 71.3 percent in 2011, 75.5 percent in 2012 and 83.9 percent in 2013. For ELA, passing rates were 75.6 percent in 2010, 74.5 percent in 2011, 82.5 percent in 2012 and 81.1 percent in 2013. Jefferson saw a dip in its scores in 2011, but ELA then held steady while its math improved, Sivley said. The percentage of students passing in math were 79.4 percent in 2010, 68.9 percent in 2011, 81.3 percent in 2012 and 84.4 percent in 2013. For ELA, the percentage passing rates were 75.9 percent in 2010, 72 percent in 2011, 80.6 percent in 2012 and 79.5 percent in 2013. Sivley said Leesburg has been “pretty consistent” with improvement over the last two years. In math, percent passing rates were 82.4 percent in 2010, 79 percent in 2011, 79.5 percent in 2012 and 81.4 percent in 2013. For ELA, percent passing rates were 78.7 percent in 2010, 77.5 percent in 2011, 81.2 percent in 2012 and 79 percent in 2013. Scores dipped a bit at Lincoln in 2012, but were right back up in 2013, Sivley observed. In 2010, the math percent passing rate was 88.8 percent, 90.5 in 2011, 86.3 in 2012 and 92.5 percent in 2013. ELA was 86 percent in 2010, 88 in 2011, 86.3 in 2012 and 88.3 percent in 2013. Madison had some growth in ELA until a tiny bit of a dip this year, Sivley said. Math, meanwhile, increased more than 5 percent this year. The math percent passing rate was 74.7 percent in 2010, 76.1 percent in 2011, 80.9 percent in 2012 and 86.2 percent in 2013. For ELA, the rates were 72.6 percent passing in 2010, 84.8 percent in 2011, 86.6 in 2012 and 85.6 percent in 2013. Washington Elementary became a STEM academy in the 2012-13 school year. Its ISTEP+ scores also improved in both categories, Sivley said. The math percent passing rate in 2010 was 75.2 percent, 79.1 in 2011, 78 in 2012 and 88.1 percent in 2013. For ELA, passing rates were 79 percent in 2010, 85.3 percent in 2011, 80.1 in 2012 and 88.5 percent in 2013. Sivley said there was a slight dip in ELA scores at Edgewood Middle School in 2013, but there was some teacher turnover last year. Math scores did improve. Math passing rates were 79.1 percent in 2010, 75.8 in 2011, 82.7 in 2012 and 84.9 percent in 2013. For ELA, passing rates were 80 percent in 2010, 77.5 in 2011, 82.2 in 2012 and 81 percent in 2013. Lakeview Middle School has seen gradual increase in both categories, Sivley stated. Math percent passing rate was 76 percent in 2010, 73.5 in 2011, 79.8 in 2012 and 83.9 percent in 2013. In ELA, rates were 68.7 percent in 2010, 71.8 in 2011 and 2012 and 77.1 percent in 2013. Even with everything that happed last year with testing, Sivley said WCS’s scores as a whole went up in both categories. Math went up 4.8 percent, while ELA went up 1.2 percent. 2013 was the third consecutive year with an increase in ELA, and was the second consecutive year for an increase in the math rate. The math percent passing rate was 79.2 percent in 2010, 76.5 percent in 2011, 81.2 percent in 2012 and 86 percent in 2013. In ELA, rates were 78 percent in 2010, 80.1 percent in 2011, 82.5 percent in 2012 and 83.7 percent in 2013. Board member Jay Baumgartner said Eisenhower’s 90-plus percent passing in ELA and Lincoln’s 90-plus percent in math were tremendous. He also saw quite a few jumps in rates at some schools. There were some tremendous accomplishments that students and their teachers should be proud of, he said. Curt Hermann, board member, said some schools have challenges with classrooms and building age, but Lincoln and Eisenhower have jumps above all the other schools. Whether that’s the teachers overcoming facilities or whatever, he said it was worth mentioning. Sivley also detailed ECA results. Students must pass ECAs in Algebra I, English 10 and biology to earn a diploma. Students in sixth through 10th grade can take the ECA for Algebra I. If a student doesn’t pass an ECA the first time, they are given multiple opportunities to pass it. In 2010, 70 percent of students who took the English 10 ECA for the first time passed. That increased to 79 percent in 2011, to 87 percent in 2012 and then dipped to 77 percent in 2013. Sivley said the 2013 passing percentage was still above the state average of 73 percent. Sivley said Warsaw is seeing more students take the Algebra ECA earlier. Students in high school taking it are the ones who weren’t quite ready for Algebra at the middle school level. The percent passing rates were 69 percent in 2010, 74 percent in 2011, 81 percent in 2012 and 72 percent in 2013. The state average rate in 2013 was 67 percent. Biology passing rates were 41 percent in 2010, 56 percent in 2011, 49 percent in 2012 and 56 percent in 2013. IMAST is for special education students and a case conference determines if a student takes IMAST. The same grades and subjects as ISTEP+ are tested on IMAST. Students are tested at grade level; the difference is it excludes the writing portion and is all multiple choice. Sivley said it’s hard to compare numbers because each year there could be different students taking it. The scores do count toward the corporation’s accountability to the state. “These are students who demonstrated they struggled passing ISTEP,” Sivley explained. From here, Sivley said the data will be reviewed with administrators, teachers and coaches and plans will be put into place to deal with them. For math, the district is looking at strengthening its professional learning communities.
