GREENFIELD — For the most part, Hancock County students fared better than the state average on the 2018 ISTEP, according to records released by the Indiana Department of Education. And statewide, 2018 results were stable when compared to results from 2017.
Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock schools held steady or saw a slightly higher percentage of third- through eighth-graders who passed the math and English/Language arts portions of the exam administered last spring.
Southern Hancock saw an increase in the number of elementary and middle school students who passed the math portion of the exam; but experienced a slight drop in percentage of students in English/Language arts.
Scores among 10th-grade students who sat for the exam were not as strong, records show.
Sophomores from Southern Hancock, Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock in 2018 improved in mathematics compared to last year, but fewer students passed the English/Language arts exam.
Scores for sophomores at Greenfield-Central Schools dropped in both subject areas when compared to the year before.
Those dips reflect a trend statewide, records show.
Tenth-grade students statewide passed English/Language arts at a rate of about 59 percent in 2018, down slightly from 2017 when 60.5 percent of sophomores passed the English/Language arts exam. Math scores stayed held steady at 36 percent.
Elementary and middle school students statewide passed the ISTEP at a lesser percentage, as well, records show.
Sixty-five percent of third- through eighth-grade students passed the English/Language arts exam in 2017; that dipped to 64 percent in 2018. Math scores also fell slightly from 58.5 percent passing in 2017 to just 58 percent passing in 2018.
The scores released publicly this week reflect the final iteration of the ISTEP exam taken by Indiana elementary and middle school students.
Starting in 2019, those students will sit for a new standardized test called ILEARN. There’s no telling right now how exactly the two exams will differ, though ILEARN is said to be a computer-adaptive examination, meaning it uses technology to adjust to each students’ skills and needs.
High school students will take the ISTEP for the foreseeable future while legislators finalize how to adjust their exam.
Eastern Hancock
Eastern Hancock’s middle school mathematics scores topped the county in 2018, records show.
Most notably, 90 percent of eighth-grade students passed the math portion of the exam as did 80 percent of fifth- and seventh-graders.
Eastern’s scores topped state average across the board, with the exception of sixth-grade English/Language arts, which met state average with 65 percent passing.
The school corporation provided this comment from Eastern Hancock Elementary School Principal Amanda Pyle to the Daily Reporter: “We are very proud of our teachers, students and parents. There is always more to do, but our scores show the continuous efforts we make. We celebrate our accomplishments as we continue to work toward even higher goals.”
The corporation also provided comment from Eastern Hancock Middle-Senior High School Principal David Pfaff. On the middle school’s results: “We continue to see passing rate growth in almost every test and grade level. We are above state averages in all areas. According to data recently released, our growth rate for individual student scores is excellent. We are pleased but not satisfied.”
Looking at the high school scores, advances in English/Language arts stood out, according to the statement provided by the corporation from Pfaff: “Our sophomore data shows very strong individual growth and overall pass rate over the same group of students’ scores from their last ISTEP in the eighth grade. Growth in English/Language arts was especially strong.”
Greenfield-Central
Assistant superintendent Ann Vail said Greenfield-Central has a lot of be proud of when examining test scores for 2018; but the data also reveals areas where improvements need to be made.
Students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades passed the ISTEP at a higher rate than they had in more than five years, according to the district’s records, Vail said. On average, 73 percent of those students passed the English/Language arts and the math exams in the spring. In 2017, the average was 69 percent.
But eighth- and 10th-graders struggled, records show. The percentage of students passing the English/Language arts and the math exams and those passing both exams simultaneously fell below the state average, records show.
For example, just 28 percent of Greenfield’s 10th-grade students passed the math portion of the exam when the state average was 36 percent.
But more of Greenfield’s students overall are passing the ISTEP, and that’s worth celebrating as they prepare to move into a new form of examination, Vail said.
Mt. Vernon
Elementary and middle school student scores continued to improve across the Mt. Vernon Community Schools district. About 61 percent of third- through eighth-grade students passed both the English/Language arts and math tests, compared to 59 percent during the 2016-17 school year.
Math scores for 10th-graders improved, with 48 percent passing the math test, compared to about 39 percent last year. While a built-in study time for sophomores was implemented last year, interim superintendent Chris Smedley said the challenge with the test is it’s not aligned with what most sophomore students are learning that year.
“Many students, including ours, are not taking Algebra 1 sophomore year,” Smedley said. “Some are taking geometry, Algebra 2, or even higher-level math than that, here and across the state.”
Some 64 percent of 10th-graders at Mt. Vernon High School passed the English/Language arts portion of the ISTEP; 45 percent of 10th-graders passed both parts of the test.
Smedley said the district earned an A rating from the state’s new accountability scores last year and he anticipates that will remain the same for this school year.
“Our students and teachers work extremely hard to earn that A,” he said.
Southern Hancock
While officials in Southern Hancock Schools are proud their 2018 ISTEP results are well above state averages, they say they’ll continue to push for ways to make improvements.
Results showed 73 percent of third- through eighth-grade students passed the English/Language arts standardized test; 70 percent passed the math portion of the exam; and nearly 62 percent passed both.
While Southern Hancock;s overall passing percentage was above state averages, 10th-grade students struggled to pass the math portion of the test, with just 42 percent passing in 2018.
Though the figure is still higher than the state average — about 36 percent of 10t- grade students passed the math ISTEP statewide — it’s a figure district officials say they want to see climb.
Superintendent Dr. Lisa Lantrip said in an email to the Daily Reporter that, overall, statewide results are something that should be looked into.
“As educators, we have concerns regarding the statewide decline in ISTEP scores this year,” she said. “We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Indiana Department of Education and legislators to find solutions to these issues.”
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School-by-school breakdown of ISTEP results from 2018 compared to 2017’s totals. Page AX
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