Kersey measure seeks new test to replace ISTEP
INDIANAPOLIS — As ISTEP confirms its status as a massive failure, State Rep. Clyde Kersey (D-Terre Haute) is asking lawmakers to begin the process of finding a new type of test to grade the progress of Hoosier schoolchildren in learning basic skills.
House Bill 1114 seeks to replace ISTEP with the Indiana Student Achievement Testing program (ISAT), starting in the 2017-18 school year. The measure is set to be considered during the 2016 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
“The need for this legislation has become apparent as growing numbers of people realize what state Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz and others have maintained for a while now: ISTEP as a means of testing student performance and teacher accountability is a complete disaster,” Kersey said. “We have finally reached the tipping point where years of mistakes have finally accumulated to force even the staunchest advocates for testing to realize that ISTEP doesn’t cut it.
“What I am proposing is getting rid of ISTEP altogether,” he continued. “Remove the stench, and give trained professionals in the state Department of Education the next couple of years to formulate a new test that will achieve understandable goals and objectives. We would replace a test that has become synonymous with punishment and failure with a new system that places the onus on identifying the problems students are facing, then helping them resolve those problems.”
While the list of errors that have come in the performance of ISTEP is a lengthy one, Kersey said one recent incident in his area pointed out the need for change. After a recent testing period, all 250 sixth-graders at North Clay Middle School were told they had failed ISTEP. It wasn’t until the results were challenged that officials admitted there had been mistakes.
“It would be nice to say that was an extreme example, but these types of things are all too typical anymore,” Kersey said. “There are too many stories about mistakes in every aspect of ISTEP, from taking the test to scoring it. If there is no reason to believe that the program will work without these mistakes, why are we keeping the program?”
The ISAT test proposed by Kersey would grade student performance in English/language arts, math, science, and social studies.
“The crucial difference would be in using the information that is collected,” he said. “I would prefer to see this test used to gauge the academic progress of students, but also to suggest changes in programs and courses that can help improve student readiness, diagnose individual student needs, and provide the remediation necessary to help them do better.
“We have reached the point where practically the entire school year has become narrowly focused on performance on ISTEP, and that simply is wrong,” Kersey said. “Apart from the testing company that makes money off this program, I cannot think of a single person in schools across Indiana—students, teachers, and administrators—who is happy with the way testing is handled in Indiana.
“I say it’s time to tear it all down and start over,” he concluded.