Indiana school year starts with controversial new standards

The standards were adopted in April after Indiana became the first state to officially withdraw from the Common Core State Standards. Indiana State Board of Education member Andrea Neal was the lone vote against the new state standards.

Neal said she voted against them because she supported the standards that were in effect prior to Common Core, which she said were more clearly written. Neal teaches middle-school English and history at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis, a private school not accredited by the state.

During the State Board of Education vote in late April, Neal said, "The standards we adopted do a disservice to Indiana children. Leading mathematicians have described the math standards as poorly written, disorganized and erroneous. The language arts standards are less rigorous than both the common core and our previous 2006 English/language arts standards. They will diminish the role of literature in the English classroom, and it is the reading of good literature that will turn our children into critical thinkers and critical writers."

Gary Attorney Tony Walker, also a member of the State Board of Education, supported the new state standards, saying he believes they meet the standard of College and Career Readiness as defined by Indiana Public Law 31-2014, but he is "deeply concerned" these standards are not competitive with international academic benchmarks.

Education consultant Schauna Findlay Relue, who was one of the experts who evaluated Indiana's new state standards, said the standards were just adopted in the spring, and it will be a fast turnaround for teachers and students to teach and learn.

"Teachers will come back to school in the fall and learn about the new test," Relue said.

"The high school end-of-course assessment will be based on the new standards. Next school year — 2015-16 — there will be another new test on the new standards. So that means students will take three different tests in three years, and teachers have to prepare for three different tests in three years. Right now, we don't even have samples for a new test that will be given in the spring. It will be a short turnaround window for what students have to do and how they will have to demonstrate what they've learned."

Relue said the previous assessment, ISTEP-Plus, was one of recall with lower-level questions, and the new assessment will require students to think more. "We have been transitioning to Common Core for the last three years, and the new standards are a mix of the old and new. For schools that were on a pause, they probably haven't implemented as much of the new standards as those that continued to work on Common Core knowing that would be a good direction for their students," she said.

Neal said the Department of Education has issued guidance to schools for implementing those standards during this school year. She said the new standards are similar to Common Core, so implementation may not be so difficult for most teachers. The new test given in spring 2015 will be aligned with those standards.

"Yes, there will be three different tests in three school years — 2013-14 through 2015-16 — but we have been told by IDOE staff and the CTB representatives that the 2015-16 test will necessarily use some test items from the 2014-15 test regardless of who the vendor is," Neal said. "The state of Indiana will own all the newly developed tests ensuring that we can compare data from year to year. There will be a sample test available this fall online to help teachers become familiar with new question formats."

Schools scrambling to provide training to teachers

Lou Ann Baker, spokeswoman for the Center for Education and Career Innovation, said IDOE held 19 training sessions over the summer on the standards and produced resource guides for teachers.

New Hebron schools Superintendent Nate Kleefisch said he will meet with teachers and talk about any obstacles. "Some teachers are uneasy about change, and this is all about change. The key will be to assess where we are at, where students are at and what teachers need to do to prepare students and provide the tools they will need," he said.

Hammond acting Superintendent Theresa Mayerik said administrators held a planning party this summer to work on standards and curriculum mapping. "We have been training in literacy blocks, integrated reading and language arts. We have plenty more work to do. I'm excited that we have an instructional coach in every building to work with teachers. I think the biggest switch will be in the way teachers teach math. Our middle school math and science teachers were involved in professional development this summer with READY Northwest Indiana," she said.

Highland schools Superintendent Brian Smith said administrators are still a little concerned about the new assessments and have sat in on conferences on how exams like the Scholastic Aptitude Test will be affected.

Munster Teachers Association President Ryan Ridgley said for schools who already began implementing Common Core will have a lot of work to make the switch to the new state standards.

"For everyone, it seems to be a mad scramble," Ridgley said. "To have a new set of standards released in the summer, which will then be taught to students within a month and a half or so of that release, is a daunting task to accomplish. Munster has set up some time for language arts and math teachers to meet and align the new standards to our current curriculum. I would assume that we will have ongoing meetings ..."

Kevin Teasley, president and CEO of Indianapolis-based GEO Foundation, which operates 21st Century Charter School, called this one of the most frustrating times in Indiana's history with regards to curriculum and testing.

"We are providing a great deal of professional development in improving rigor and higher-level thinking in the standards and focusing on improving reading and comprehension as well as writing. This will help no matter what standards and testing are put in place," he said.

New East Chicago schools Superintendent Youssef "Dr. Joe" Yomtoob said he has reviewed Indiana's state standards, and they are not vastly different from the Common Core State Standards, he said.

"It is good to have a standard that everyone agrees is the right thing and I hope they are the highest and if they are, then we are responsible for teaching them," he said.

"We've already had some training for teachers and we had a six-hour workshop for the administrative team. We are talking about the things we need to do to make sure that children are successful. We are re-educating our staff. We have to raise the bar and remove the ceiling. What we have done in the past is not acceptable. Most teachers don't get up in the morning and say, I want to fail kids. If they know better, they will do better, and we will make sure they know better. Failure is not an option. We are raising the bar with principals who, in turn, raise the bar with our teachers."