Photo: Steve Loya (Flickr)
Despite large gains in 2010, the state saw an overall increase in student I-STEP scores in 2011.
State superintendent Tony Bennett says newly released I-STEP scores will help Indiana position itself as a national leader on education. A little more than 70 percent of Indiana’s third through eighth grade students passed both English/Language Arts and Math sections of the I-STEP test in 2011, that’s up two percentage points from last year. Bennett says many people thought achievement would be stagnant after historic gains in 2010.
“In 2010, when folks thought we hit the ceiling, I believe we are starting to jump from the floor,” said Bennett, “and I think we are going to see a pattern of continued improvement in Indiana schools.”
Bennett says there is a simple formula for fostering educational success.
“Great schools occur when school leadership – and I want to emphasize school leadership – has the authority and autonomy to act,” Bennett said.
Emma Donnan Middle School in Indianapolis, the only Indiana middle school facing state intervention this year, did not have high enough scores to remove itself from probation
