Changes To Indiana School Rating System Will Include Graduation Rates & Drop 'AYP Cap'

Ben Skirvin/StateImpact Indiana

Tony Bennett speaks to reporters about state plans to intervene in six failing Indianapolis public schools on August 24.

State superintendent Tony Bennett will propose Wednesday to change the criteria the state uses to issue its letter-grade ratings for public schools.

Bennett told the audience at a Bloomington education panel Tuesday the new rating system will drop a requirement that schools meet the yearly performance goals set out under the federal No Child Left Behind act.

StateImpact Indiana has also learned the new criteria will make significant changes to the way high schools are evaluated. The new rules will factor in a high school’s graduation rate into issuing its rating.

More details of the changes to the way the Indiana Department of Education will assess schools under the state’s accountability law, Public Law 221, haven’t been made public yet. Indiana’s state Board of Education will hear the proposed changes at its meeting Wednesday morning, when they’ll be made public.

Because they doesn’t alter the timeline on which state education officials can intervene in failing schools, the changes Bennett discussed won’t need legislative approval.

I’ll be back later tonight to update this developing story.