Pearson Will Update Legislators On ISTEP+ Transition

The Indiana Statehouse. (Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr)

Although the General Assembly won’t meet regularly again until January, legislators are checking in periodically to address certain issues held over from this year’s session. The Interim Study Committee on Education, composed of lawmakers from both the House and Senate, will meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss issues related to the changing ISTEP+ for Hoosier students.

The idea of changing the ISTEP+ to a nationally crafted assessment was thrown around this past session in the form of Senate Bill 566 until it was tabled for a study committee, so this meeting will instead focus on receiving updates about the current version of the ISTEP+.

Pearson, the testing company that took over the contract from CTB to produce the ISTEP+, is expected to testify in front of the committee about what to expect from its version of the test, says House Education Committee head Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis.

“There’s actually some very encouraging things that they’ve offered the state in terms of platforms and the way the system will be delivered,” Behning says. “It really should be much more seamless than what we’ve had in terms of past problems, so I think it will be very informative to members in terms of what the future test may look like.”

Behning says having Pearson representatives at the meeting will help the company work with legislators and the Department of Education to ensure a smooth transition from one test vendor to another.

He says the discussion around abandoning a unique assessment crafted around Indiana’s specific standards for a cheaper, nationally used test will likely come up at the next study committee at the end of September.

The committee meets Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the House Chambers.​