Most of us have had a high school or college test that was ... How shall we say it? ... totally bogus.
The questions in the exam didn't match the subject matter learned during the class, the testing software failed, the test was too long and, worst of all, the grading of the exam was arbitrary. As a result of the slipshod test, some students received a C or D in the class, when they felt strongly they should have earned an A or B.
That's the way many school officials across the state and in the Madison County area feel after the release of school A-F accountability grades Tuesday. The grades, approved by the Indiana State Board of Education, came with one big, fat asterisk: Schools would be "held harmless" for student scores on the ISTEP state standardized exam — testing language arts, math, science and social studies — given last year.
Scores for that exam, released this winter, showed a steep decline in student performance at most schools across the state. The test had been designed to be significantly more rigorous than the 2013-14 ISTEP. In addition, computer problems that occurred while administering the test and a long-delayed (some say botched) scoring of the test drove student scores further down.
These factors conspired to make the 2014-15 ISTEP a poor measuring stick of both student and school performance. Recognizing this, the Indiana General Assembly voted to hold schools harmless for the test scores, meaning that poor test scores would not negatively affect school accountability grades.
As a result, nearly all local schools were given the same grade as the previous year.
For the record, 24 of the 40 local schools assessed received A's. That compares favorably with 12 of 38 earning A's back in 2011. Elementary schools in the Madison County area have fared particularly well; 15 of 21 got A's on the recently released report card.
There are trouble spots, too. Most notably, Highland Middle School has an F grade, but that doesn't take into account significant changes in administrative approach and academic strategies implemented last school year.
Next year, Highland could achieve — should achieve — a higher grade. That is, if the state standardized test given this year is well conceived, properly executed and correctly scored.