School leaders to parents: ISTEP 'complete fiasco'

“Complete fiasco.” “False reality.” “Botched system.”

Those are some of the ways local school officials are describing the circumstances surrounding this year’s drop in ISTEP student assessment test results to parents and the public.

“We believe that the changes in the testing structure along with arbitrarily chosen cut scores are reflecting a false reality for our county and the entire state. The testing process has been a complete fiasco,” according to a letter from Greene County superintendents that ran in the Greene County Daily World.

“As schools across the state are reviewing the preliminary release of the 2014-15 ISTEP+ results, we are finding that the percentage of students passing the exam has dropped as a result of Indiana’s botched system of standardized testing,” according to a letter from Elkhart County superintendents that ran in the Goshen News.

School officials are responding to individual school results they have received from the state for a new ISTEP test that was administered in the spring to Hoosier students in Grades 3-8 and is based on more rigorous standards.

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Statewide results aren't expected to be released to the public until later this month, and school officials are rushing to dissuade parents and the public from drawing any rash conclusions.

In Marion County, one school leader described sending a letter to parents as a “very unusual” step for him to take.

But Thomas Little, superintendent of Perry Township Schools, said the 2014-15 ISTEP marks “unusual times” in public education.

“The test results of your child must be reviewed in light of the current testing controversies. In the final analysis, the success of your child in life will not be determined by a series of tests,” Little goes on to write. “If you truly want to know the level of achievement of your child, ask the person who knows best, your child’s teacher.”

Although the letters come from a diverse group of superintendents — serving some of the state’s most urban to rural districts — they strike a similar tone. They urge the public to avoid jumping to conclusions about school quality and argue that ISTEP, especially for this round of scores, isn’t a good indicator of academic performance.

The head of Wayne Township Schools said he’s finding that “significant confusion” surrounds ISTEP. But he said two things are clear: Students and schools will be assigned ratings that don’t accurately measure their performance.

“And the public is at risk of being left with the faulty impression that our schools, and students, are doing poorly,” Jeff Butts said in his letter. “In fact, by many measures, the opposite is true.”

Some relief — at least for educators — could be on the way.

During the legislative session that starts in January, the Republican-controlled Indiana General Assembly appears ready to fast-track a proposal to prevent lower ISTEP scores from lowering teacher performance pay for a year. However, a more complicated debate looms on whether lawmakers will reduce the influence those scores could have on the state’s A-F rating system for individual schools.

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Lawmakers have Gov. Mike Pence’s backing to suspend ISTEP's impact on performance pay. But while Pence has said his administration is exploring ways that A-F grades could be modified, no specific plan has materialized.

In Greensburg, community members don’t have any “confidence whatsoever” in the test results, said Tom Hunter, superintendent of the city’s schools.

Hunter said he wrote a letter to explain to the community reasons behind the scores going down.

While the path forward for the General Assembly remains unclear, Hunter can quickly sum up his thoughts on this year’s test.

“This is just a ridiculous outcome to a ridiculous process,” he said.

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A spokeswoman for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said she would work to ensure that schools aren’t “unfairly penalized.”

“We know that the scores do not accurately reflect the great teaching and learning that is happening in our classrooms every day and that assigning these grades could have a devastating impact on our communities,” Samantha Hart, a Department of Education spokeswoman, said in a statement.

However, issues surrounding this year’s ISTEP are serving to ignite tension among Ritz and some education groups.

School officials argue they didn’t have time to prepare for the new exam and fear its effects on school A-F accountability grades. But ISTEP supporters say this year’s results are an expected outcome because students are now taking a harder exam based on more rigorous academic standards.

One of the state’s leading education reform groups, Hoosiers for Quality Education, chimed in on the debate when Pence announced in October that he would support legislation to remove the effects of ISTEP on teacher pay raises.

The group lauded Pence and took aim at Ritz.

“While Superintendent Ritz has traveled the state creating panic and anxiety among teachers and parents, as well as suggesting accountability be dismantled entirely, Governor Pence and the legislature remain committed to the importance of accountability and have shown true leadership, recognizing the great work teachers have done in guiding our students through this transition,” Betsy Wiley, president of Hoosiers for Quality Education, said in a statement.

Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea.