SBOE Will Vote On New Way To Give Schools A-F Grades

State Board members Byron Ernest (left) and Steve Yager talk during a break in the board\’s August meeting. (Photo Credit: Rachel Morello/StateImpact Indiana)” credit=”

The State Board of Education meets Wednesday for its monthly meeting and will vote on finalizing the state’s new system for giving schools A-F grades.

The SBOE and Department of Education voted last year to update the system so student growth on ISTEP+ factors more heavily into the calculation.

Currently, A-F grades are calculated using points, and points are awarded for each student that passes the test. This is also the main way points are awarded, so if a school has low test scores, they’ll end up with a low A-F grade.

“Under the old model, you got nothing,” says State Board of Education spokesperson Marc Lotter. “You got points for high movement and zero points for negative movement.”

Which means students gots points if they showed significant growth, and lost points for low or negative growth.

Looking forward, it’s already decided that student growth will factor more into these grades. What the SBOE is voting on Wednesday are details on how much they should reward a student who fails the test but still improved from last year.

The board will also get an update on the new diploma options, which have been undergoing a re-write for a few months. The SBOE planned to pass new diploma types in the fall, but pushback regarding special education students, math credits and fine arts options send the discussion back to a task force.

SBOE decisions this week will be used to tally this year’s A-F grades.

The board meets Wednesday at 9 a.m., you can live stream the meeting online.