STOOPS: Our students, teachers, and communities are more than just test scores

INDIANAPOLIS – In the wake of the release of preliminary ISTEP scores, State Senator Mark Stoops (D-Bloomington) released the following statement once again offering his proposal to hold educators harmless from the legislative changes made to this year’s school accountability assessments.

“The release of these preliminary ISTEP scores for Indiana’s K-12 schools further highlights the need to hold our students, teachers and communities harmless from this botched system of testing.

“A first look at the results from ISTEP tests last spring indicate that as many as 36 percent of our schools, more than 1 out of every 3, will be classified as D or F schools.

“This is the first assessment of the new academic standards precipitously imposed upon our students, teachers and schools by Statehouse Republicans, and they’re not working.

“Because of the shell-game style change in standards, as well as serious technical issues with ISTEP itself, the Superintendent of Public Instruction has long advocated for a hold-harmless solution to this problem.

“I offered a comprehensive fix on Organization Day to do just that; unfortunately Statehouse leadership again showed a complete lack of regard for the situation we have imposed on schools and the students themselves.

“Because of the lack of political will on the part of the Legislature to act quickly, teachers pay has been jeopardized and good schools will be labeled as failures.

“Our students, our teachers and our communities are more than just test scores.”

“The Senate Democratic Caucus has set out a clear and comprehensive plan of action to address this legislature-imposed debacle.

“If we want to protect the reputation of our schools, teachers and communities, our first action in January must be to hold schools and educators harmless for this flawed ISTEP process.

“School superintendents, teachers, parents, and students are counting on us to have their backs. The question is: does the Republican leadership have their backs, or will they continue to stand silent on remedying this situation?

Sen. Stoops represents Indiana Senate District 40, which includes portions of Monroe County, including the City of Bloomington. For more information on Sen. Stoops, his legislative agenda or other State Senate business call 1-800-382-9467 or visit www.IN.gov/S40.
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A copy of Sen. Stoops’ proposal to address the impact of A-F grades on teacher performance grants is available for download at: http://indianasenatedemocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ISTEP.PD3361.pdf 

A copy of Sen. Stoops’ letter to President Pro-Tempore David Long is available at: http://indianasenatedemocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Stoops.ISTEPLTR.102915.pdf

 

LANANE: A-F report confirms need for transparency, objectivity and collaboration

State Senate Democratic Leader Tim Lanane released the following statement regarding the announcement of the results of a recent investigation into the state’s school evaluation program:

“Today’s findings only confirm when standards are set in a climate of limited transparency and accountability and without the input of those being evaluated, the product is more than suspect.

“The report states the previous administration made errors, rushed decisions and compromised objectivity when implementing A-F and instead of ensuring accuracy, they moved forward anyway. That approach does not inspire confidence in that administration, their system or the validity of their results. No matter how you dress it up, the fact remains the previous administration’s system is broken beyond repair.

“Plausible or not, these grades do not wholly reflect the performance of our students or our schools. So much so, that the authors of this report advise throwing them out when considering intervention until a new system can be put in place.

“This episode only underscores the necessity of added transparency. More importantly, it emphasizes the need for broad input from teachers, parents and school administrators to establish a valid, accurate and fair assessment of our schools. Moving forward, it’s my hope that all stakeholders will have a place at the table when developing a growth-based model that fairly assesses our schools. Senate Democrats are ready to advance policies that improve our students’ outcomes rather than reconciling the previous administration’s’ shortcomings. Too much is at stake to focus our efforts otherwise.”

After it was revealed through e-mails that previous Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett altered the grading formula for certain schools, legislative leaders organized a panel of independent investigators to look into the school grades for the 2011-12 school year.

For a copy of the Grew-Sheldrake A-F report>>

2013 session halftime: A look at Senate-passed bills

Tuesday marked the halfway point of the 2013 legislative session as lawmakers scrambled to gain final approval of their proposals. Senate bills not making it through the chamber by Tuesday are considered dead for this session. Of the 619 Senate bills introduced this session, 213 are heading to the House for further consideration and 175 House-passed initiatives will be reviewed by the Senate. Bills must pass both chambers before going to the governor for possible signature into law. This brief summary highlights some of the action taken by the Senate thus far.

Education initiatives

More flexibility for schools: School corporations would have the flexibility to pay for certain contracted services through their Capital Project Fund under SB 291. The bill, authored by Sen. Lindel Hume, provides that capital funds may be used for security, trash and snow removal, mowing, and lawn and pest control services. Currently, schools use General Fund appropriations to pay for these services, while Capital Project Funds only apply to building maintenance, repair, remodeling and technology. Providing this added flexibility will free up resources from school general funds that could go toward education as well as security measures to provide a safe environment for children.

In-state tuition for certain undocumented students: Co-authored by Sen. Earline Rogers, SB 207 provides that the current law prohibiting the resident tuition rate for individuals living in Indiana who are not U.S. citizens does not apply to those who were enrolled in state universities on or before July 1, 2011. About 200 students were affected, and this will allow them to finish school at in-state tuition rates.

School resource officers: Legislation aiding schools in hiring more police officers gained Senate approval. SB 1 specifies how a school resource officer program may be established and sets forth duties and responsibilities for school resource officers. The measure requires the officers to successfully complete the training requirements for law enforcement officers and receive 40 hours of certified school resource officer training. In addition, the bill allocates $10 million in state funding and will allow public schools to apply for matching grants to hire police officers.

School bus operator seatbelt training: SB 421 requires drivers of school buses equipped with seat belts to instruct students on the proper use of the seat belts and conduct at least one passenger evacuation drill. In addition, the bill provides that failure to provide the instruction and conduct the drill at least once a semester is cause for termination of the driver or cancellation of a school bus contract.

Curbing Absenteeism: Chronic absenteeism in schools is targeted under SB 338. The bill requires the State Department of Education to provide resources and guidance to school corporations concerning evidence-based practices and effective strategies to reduce absenteeism. Additionally, SB 338 further defines absenteeism and habitual truancy as well as requires schools to identify contributing factors to absenteeism and develop chronic absence reduction plans.

Common Core curriculum: Legislation evaluating Indiana’s use of national academic standards before they are implemented in Hoosier schools passed out of the Senate. SB 193 calls for public meetings on Common Core standards and for schools to hold off on any plans for implementation before standards are adopted by the Indiana State Board of Education. The measure to suspend participation in Common Core standards had both adamant supporters and opponents and now moves to the House for consideration.

A-F school grading system: A proposal supported by the state’s superintendent of public instruction that would have done away with Indiana’s contentious A to F school grading system was withdrawn by the bill’s author thus killing the proposal. SB 416 would have required the State Board of Education to establish new designations of school improvement based on the measurement of student growth as compared against established standard criteria. Although the bill is dead, a new school assessment system could still be included in similar legislation still moving through the process.

VIDEO: Sen. Arnold update on progress of education bills

State Senator Jim Arnold updates constituents on various education bills, including legislation on voucher expansion and elimination of A-F grades for schools.