INDIANAPOLIS – Members of the Indiana State Board of Education were not confident in the accuracy of the school A-F accountability grades, so they delayed releasing the 2014 grades until their Nov. 5 meeting.
The annual grades were expected to be finalized at Wednesday's board meeting. But after hearing appeals from five schools and being notified that International Baccalaureate test data was missing for three to five non-public schools, the board decided to wait on issuing any grades until corrections could be made. In all, 88 appeals were filed for the 2014 grades.
Members voted 7-1 to table the grades until their next meeting. Board member Gordon Hendry, who joined the meeting by speakerphone, opposed the motion.
“By waiting until 11/5, what does that jeopardize?” asked board member Brad Oliver, who initially suggested delaying the release of the grades and noted the 2013 grades weren’t finalized until December. “I’m just saying let’s get it right. There are multiple concerns.”
The 2013 grades were delayed due to technical issues when the 2013 ISTEP was being administered, so the IDOE needed more time to correct test data. One concern with delaying the release of the state letter grades is that it also delays finalizing the educator effectiveness ratings, which take into account the grades.
Western School Corp. Superintendent Randy McCracken said the delay will give his district less time to finalize its teacher evaluations before the IDOE’s deadline to have that information submitted. School letter grades count for 5 percent of Western’s teacher evaluations.
McCracken is glad the state board of education waited rather than release inaccurate information, but he said he’s still disappointed the grades weren’t published on time.
“We have staff, students and parents who take a lot of pride in our school, and that letter grade is a reflection of the hard work they put in,” he said.
Taylor Community School Corp. Superintendent Chris Smith said the delay will not affect his corporation’s teacher evaluations because Taylor teachers are still under a contract negotiated before new state policy on evaluations was implemented.
“It’s a surprise to me,” Smith said of the delay. “I would always want the data to be correct and to get it right the first time.”
Kokomo School Corp. Superintendent Jeff Hauswald prefers the delay over inaccurate school grades.
"Being accurate is more important than releasing the school grades before they have been thoroughly reviewed," he said. "These grades are a challenge for the Indiana Department of Education when one considers the rules and expectations set forth by the State Board of Education and other state officials. Clearly, IDOE has been given a difficult task.”
Oliver requested the Indiana Legislative Service Agency run the data and verify the grades the Indiana Department of Education assigns for each school, which he said was discussed last year.
Superintendent Glenda Ritz said the LSA didn’t meet the deadline the IDOE had set to have the data finalized for Wednesday’s meeting. Deb Dailey, IDOE director of accountability, said she couldn’t speak to the reasons for the LSA’s delay.
Board secretary Dan Elsener questioned why the IDOE hadn’t made an effort to collect the missing data earlier. Dailey vouched for the accuracy of the other letter grades, and said the IDOE is currently working to add the missing IB test data into its calculations.
Board member Andrea Neal said the missing data makes her question the credibility of all the school grades. She also would like to see a process added for schools to correct errors in data input before the grades are issued, noting that the reporting process is demanding and schools have other priorities – like educating students.
“It just makes sense to take a step back and make sure all the grades are properly approved,” Neal said. “The data reporting requirements we impose on these schools are enormous, and it’s going to grow under the new A to F.”