Local ISTEP scores reflect predictions

The ISTEP scores that the school administration officials have been dreading were released by the Indiana Department of Education with mixed results. 
Locally, students followed the predicted results of lower scores, some not as frustrating as others. 
The results are the first state assessment to be based on the new Indiana college and career-ready standards. According to the state, because of this change, the 2015 ISTEP scores are not comparable to the previous year pass rates. Those results instead reflect the percentage of students meeting the new college and career-ready benchmarks at each grade level. 
Statewide, 67.3 percent of students passed the English/language arts section, while 61 percent passed the mathematics section, and 53.5 percent passed both sections.  
Eastern Pulaski Elementary School saw 68.5 percent of the students pass both math and English/language arts in 2015. In 2014, 89.8 percent of the students passed both. At the Winamac Community Middle School, 58.6 percent of the students passed both math and English/language arts in 2015 while 81.3 percent passed in 2014. 
Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation Superintendent Dan Foster said the corporation is “somewhat pleased but we are taking it with a grain of salt because we truly don’t know the reliability of all of this.” 
West Central School Corporation staff will continue to review the Indiana Department of Education blueprints and the Indiana State Standards. Superintendent Don Street said they will continue to align instruction with those standards and prepare for a different type of test. 
“The scores from 2015 are not a true reflection of the work that students and staff put into this school year,” Street said. 
West Central Elementary School had 52.5 percent of the students pass both math and English/language arts in 2015, while in 2014, 79.6 percent passed. At the middle school 42.9 percent passed in 2015. In 2014, there were 65.4 percent who passed. 
 
See the full story in the Pulaski County Journal, available in print and e-edition.