Ritz Details Indiana OnTrack Assessment
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz has unveiled more details of her proposal to replace the ISTEP exam. Ritz says the Indiana OnTrack Assessment System would reduce testing time for students by eight hours and save approximately $12 million in taxpayer money each year.
Ritz says the new system will be more streamlined and student-centered. Among the many changes, the Indiana OnTrack system calls for the elimination of the IREAD-3 exam, the social studies test at grades 5 and 7 and ACCUPLACER at grades 11 and 12. It also calls for enhancing the Graduation Qualifying Exam with a College and Career Indicator.
"Fortunately, now that No Child Left Behind has been repealed we have the flexibility to develop an assessment that provides quick feedback to educators and families about both a student’s grade level performance and their growth towards college and career ready standards," said Ritz. "The Indiana OnTrack Assessment System takes advantage of this flexibility by reducing testing redundancies and utilizing new testing approaches. Even more importantly, by utilizing an adaptive assessment, we can individualize our state test and provide teachers and parents with meaningful feedback about a student’s own performance and growth during a year."
Ritz’s office shared the proposal with the ISTEP Replacement Panel, which has until December 1 to deliver its recommendations to the Indiana General Assembly. Ritz says the Indiana OnTrack system addresses the concerns outlined by the General Assembly regarding standards for a new test.
You can view the proposal below: