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Bye-STEP: Governor Signs Bill To Replace Indiana Standardized Test

Benjamin Chun
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HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/BENCHUN/

Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill into law Tuesday that eliminates the current statewide student assessment and lays plans for a new one. The law creates a new committee that can alter test format and stakes.

The committee determining the ISTEP replacement will be made mostly of educators, lawmakers and agency heads.

While it can reformat the test, the statewide standards remain the same, so big changes in test questions are unlikely.

State superintendent Glenda Ritz is a member of the committee and hopes to lower the weight of test scores in school rankings and teacher evaluations.

“We cannot continue this pass/fail approach, where all kids are taking the same questions at the same time, in the same window,” Ritz says. “And the results don’t yield anything new for teaching and learning.”

All appointments to the committee must be made by May 1 and the group must submit a report of recommendations by the end of the year to the state.

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