State of Indiana Student Achievement Assessment Tools (continued)

These tests collectively are referred to as mandatory annual assessments. Mandatory annual assessments shall be administered by the following schools:

(1) Public schools.
(2) Accredited nonpublic schools.
(3) Freeway schools - unless a freeway school contract provides for a locally adopted assessment.
(4) Charter schools.

If the State Board of education determines that adequate resources are not available to support administration of all mandatory annual assessments, the schools in subsection (c) are required to administer only the following:

(1) ISTEP English/language arts and mathematics tests at grades 3, 6, 8, and 10.
(2) ISTEP science tests and social studies tests, when implemented, at grades 5, 7, and 9.

Core 40 End-of-Course Assessments

The assessments are end-of-course tests of what students know and are able to do after taking specific Core 40 courses. They are aligned with Indiana’s Academic Standards adopted by the Indiana State Board of Education (State Board) in 2000-01 in English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Like the standards, they reflect quality, consistency, and rigor.

The State Board of Education has included selected Core 40 end-of-course assessments as primary indicators of high school improvement and performance, as reflected in Indiana’s new school accountability system, as established by Public Law 221-1999 (P.L. 221).

Required end-of-course assessments are tests that every school will administer each year to every student enrolled in certain Core 40 courses. These assessments will be required beginning in 2004. The Core 40 end-of-course assessments are designed to measure student achievement of Indiana’s Academic Standards and schools’ alignment of curriculum choices and instructional practices to the standards. Schools are required to report end-of-course assessment data as well as the percentage of students completing Core 40 and the Academic Honors Diploma curricula on the Annual School Performance Report. At least six Core 40 courses are being considered as required assessments. Developing the capacity for statewide administration and grading will take several years, with two new end-of-course tests ready each spring for statewide piloting. To simplify test administration, pilot testing will occur only in the spring (April – June). These required end-of-course assessments will be phased in over the next five years.

2. How is student progress in Indiana compared to the progress in other states?

The ISTEP+ program offers Indiana schools a norm-referenced assessment and a test of cognitive skills, but they are not required components and are not given by all schools. For national comparisons, the state of Indiana participates in the NAEP program.

NAEP

What Is NAEP?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.