Assistant School Superintendent Kevin Frank reported on required testing and its impact on teachers and students to the Washington School Board last night.
He said over 200 students were required to take the “World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) test to measure comprehension and communication skills for English language learners. Frank said the rules even required the school system to test a foreign exchange student. There were also questions about whether the information gathered by the test was worth the class time missed by both students and teachers.
Frank also discussed changes in the ISTEP tests. Beginning next year, sophomores must pass the english and math sections of the 10th grade ISTEP as part of their graduation requirements. This year’s sophomore class is especially hit because they must not only take the 10th grade ISTEP, but end-of-course exams this year. The ISTEPS begin next week, with the test widow running through March 11.
Frank also discussed the I-READ test mandated for third graders. At the end of his report, Frank told the Board the currently a lot of time is being spent on testing in Indiana and he’s , not sure how much it is helping student learning.
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Last night the Washington Community School Board agreed to begin the process to sell ground occupied by part of the YMCA building to the Y. Currently, the Y has a perpetual lease on the property with a rent of $25 per year.
The Board also accepted the resignation of high school teacher Nathan Martindale effective at the end of the month.
Also at last night’s meeting, School Superintendent, Dr. Daniel Roach commented that the he normal mid-year drop in enrollment will cost the school system over $100,000 this year.