ISTEP scores to be delayed

ctb-mcgraw-hill

Officials say the results of this year’s Indiana standardized student tests are being delayed by more than a month as the testing company struggles to complete grading the exams.

The president of McGraw-Hill Education CTB told the State Board of Education on Wednesday that changes made to this year’s ISTEP test have pushed back its grading work. That means schools and parents likely won’t receive student test results until mid-December.

It is the latest struggle with the ISTEP exam after it became the center of outcry from parents and educators in February over longer testing times. That problem and the grading delays are being blamed on the exam being redesigned to align with new state standards created after Indiana withdrew from the national Common Core standards last year.

C-T-B-McGraw-Hill says students phrased correct answers to ISTEP’s new open-ended questions in ways the testmaker hadn’t anticipated. Graders are rescoring tests to make sure students get proper credit. The company says it’ll take at least an additional three weeks to complete scoring as a result, and probably a full month. State Board of Education members voiced frustration at the delay, and wondered aloud whether the state can demand compensation.