VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Fewer than half of Vigo County Schools meet academic expectations, according to
Federal School Accountability Ratings
released Friday.
Only one school in Vigo County, Riley Elementary, exceeded expectations and 15 were approaching expectations.
State scores showed 56 percent of high schools meeting or exceeding expectations while 53 percent of elementary and middle schools were in the same category.
Four Vigo County Schools and 205 statewide were in the “Do Not Meet Expectations” category.
The scores are based on multiple factors, including standardized test scores, graduation rates and the closing of achievement gaps; however, Indiana has its own accountability requirements, leaving schools uncertain of what the federal ratings will mean.
“I think for us, it’s trying to wade through and find out what value, if any, those really have for us,” VCSC superintendent Rob Haworth said Friday morning following a scheduled school finance meeting.
State accountability grades will not be released until the General Assembly takes action on a hold harmless bill on the 2018-2019 grades based on overall low ILEARN scores.
“It says something when our state says ‘let’s hold on, let’s hold all of our schools hold harmless for those, because of the dramatic dip statewide in test scores,’” Haworth noted. “You don’t have that same latitude with the federal government, so we are examining those, just like a lot of school districts are, and try to understand what those mean.”
State Representative Tonya Pfaff (D-Terre Haute) Friday issued a statement on the importance of making standardized testing a priority in the 2020 legislative session.
“We don’t go into teaching to watch our students cry about passing a test. We don’t go into teaching to have our hard-earned dollars tied to a test that we did not write. We don’t go into teaching to focus on a state-mandated test ahead of our own lesson plans,” said Pfaff, who is a teacher by profession. “We go into teaching to enrich the lives of our students, which has become more and more difficult with the implementation of high stakes testing.”
Representatives of the Indiana State Teacher’s Union also questioned if the scores were an accurate representation of student performance.
“It would be really nice if legislators would look at the fact that it’s not a reliable way to analyze how well students are doing,” Kim Fidler, Uniserve Director of the Indiana Teacher’s Union said. “You can use that data to compare to other states and things like that. But it’s just wrong to use it to punish public schools, grade teachers with evaluations of students, with the amount of time spent on testing and that stress as well.”
