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BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
carmenm@nwitimes.com
219.662-5337 | Monday, January 09, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
CROWN POINT | As Jim Hardman sat at his desk, scrolling through the charts and statistics, he said the Crown Point school district already has put together a game plan to work with students who didn't pass the ISTEP.
Crown Point students generally score high on the test, and officials were pleased with the kids' continued improvement.
Still, for Crown Point and other regional school districts, there are a minority of students in the lower rung who need some assistance.
Hardman said the ISTEP is just one element.
"ISTEP gives us a picture of what a student is doing at one point in time," he said. "But if you take that information and teach to the test, you're doing a disservice to students."
He said it's crucial to reach students to learn and that Crown Point uses the test as an assessment to guide instruction.
Hardman discussed many of those issues when he met with a group of parents Wednesday night to focus on ISTEP scores and review individual tests with parents who had questions.
Even though the scores are high, Valparaiso Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education John Hutton said the district will not be satisfied until everyone passes the test.
"We use ISTEP as a piece of the puzzle," Hutton said. "We have some very sophisticated assessment tools that we intend to use in conjunction with ISTEP."
Hutton said Valparaiso intends to add a standard-based reporting system that will provide specific information to students, parents and teachers.
Instead of just a math or English grade, there will be a set of standards tracking the skills a student has learned or needs to learn. The district also is looking at pre- and post-testing every nine weeks for secondary students and once per semester at the elementary level.
That's going to give the district more information because its standards are higher than the state's, Valparaiso Superintendent Michael Benway said.
Portage Assistant Superintendent Ric Frataccia said his district is desegregating the data, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and coming up with a plan of attack.
Traditionally, the East Porter County School Corp. performs very well on ISTEP, new Superintendent Rod Gardin said.
"We're going through all of the standards and refining the ones that we think are most powerful," he said. "It's a districtwide initiative and part of our strategic plan."
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