State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick wants lawmakers to extend the timeline for creating a test to replace ISTEP+. (Peter Balonon-Rosen/Indiana Public Broadcasting)
State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick asked a Senate education committee Wednesday to extend the timeline for creating a test to replace ISTEP+.
The Senate is considering a House bill that would, once again, revamps the state assessment, the ISTEP+. The current version of the bill has students taking the new test next year. This concerns McCormick and others at the Department of Education.
The legislature scrapped an old version of the ISTEP+ a few years ago, and the test had to be re-written quickly because former governor Mike Pence removed the state from Common Core standards. The quick turnaround meant confusion and issues with the rollout.
McCormick says legislators should avoid a similar situation.
“We’ve got to blueprint, we’ve got to vet, and we’ve got to get it right,” McCormick says. “To roll it out in 2018, we could do it, but it might not be pretty. And we’ve tried that before as a state, and we didn’t get it right.”
Pre-k continues to be one of the most debated education bills being considered this session. ” credit=”Sonia Hooda / Flickr
A Senate Committee slashed funding Wednesday from a House bill that sought to double the state’s preschool pilot program.
Senate lawmakers wasted little time amending House Bill 1004 to mirror their own version of legislation to expand state-funded preschool and offer additional funding to other early learning initiatives.
The amendment cuts the proposed increase for the On My Way Pre-K program from $20 million to $6 million during the next two years. It also creates a new fund to help families pay for virtual preschool classes.
Indianapolis Public School\’s Thomas D. Gregg School 15 is located on the east side of the city. (Credit: IPS)
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would like to see more school districts across the country follow the “out-of-the-box” school management approach used byIndianapolis Public Schools, IPS.
DeVos, speaking to a gathering of leaders from the country’s biggest school districts in Washington, D.C. Monday, praised the IPS’ “innovation” management program that allows schools to shed much of the oversight from the district’s central office.
“… they are freed up to operate independently and thus better attune themselves to the unique needs of their students,” she said, according to a transcript.
DeVos, who wants less federal oversight in education, says IPS gives parents and school leaders more control and choice over their classrooms.
Nine schools currently make up IPS’ Innovation School Network, a management system created by state law in 2014. The law allows IPS to contract with principals, nonprofit organizations or charter operators to run schools autonomously. School leaders set their own curriculum, culture, spending, and hiring practices. Educators at these schools are not part of the district’s teacher union.
Gary Community Schools is struggling to meet payroll and other financial obligations, and it’s looking to the state for help. (photo credit: Rachel Morello/Indiana Public Broadcasting)
The Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board recommends the state grant Gary Community Schools a loan to cover teacher paychecks and other costs until the end of March.
The board unanimously approved the recommendation last week, and the NWI Times reports the school district’s debt includes an $8.6 million operating deficit.
Pre-K continues to be one of the most debated education bills this session. (photo credit=”Sonia Hooda / Flickr
At the halfway point in the legislative session, the bills passed in the first half, by House or Senate, move on to the other chamber. So this week, a few education bills that made that cut got their first hearing in the House or Senate education committees.
Any amendments or votes on those won’t come until next week at the earliest.
Seven major House education bills got their first hearing Wednesday in the Senate’s Education and Career Development committee. These include teacher background checks, prayer in school and suicide preventiontraining. These bills could start moving forward in the process, with amendments or votes, as early as next week.
Child advocacy groups are still asking lawmakers to increase funding for pre-K to $50 million. The House bill currently proposes a $10 million funding increase.
Senate lawmakers approved their own version of preschool expansion with a smaller $3 million bump.
Help us help you! We want to know what you want covered. Have a question or story idea? A specific policy that deserves more explanation? Reach out! Leave a comment or reach reporter Peter Balonon-Rosen at pbalonon@indiana.edu and reporter Claire McInerny at clmciner@indiana.edu.
Rebecca Heger, Cathedral High School\’s mental health and addictions counselor, looks at 2-year-old Finn, a therapy dog at the school since 2015. (photo credit: Eric Weddle/WFYI Public Media)
Suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for Hoosier teens and young adults in 2014 and 2015, according to a just released report.
Among a majority of states, Indiana ranks second for high schoolers who made a suicide plan and third for those who have seriously considered suicide.
In 2014 there were 52 suicides among youth ages 10-19. In 2015 the deaths increased to 55, according to state data.
Those jarring statistics and regular news reports of students taking their own lives have lawmakers, school leaders and mental health experts looking for ways to prevent another death.
At the Statehouse, two different suicide prevention proposals have garnered universal support this session — yet it remains to be seen how the House and Senate will compromise their unique plans.
Reagan Roush, center, makes a creamy chicken fajita pasta dish at a weekly cooking skills class at the College Internship Program in Bloomington, Indiana. (Peter Balonon-Rosen/Indiana Public Broadcasting)
Reagan Roush likes things spicy.
“When I make Mexican ground beef, I add an onion and a green pepper and three habanero peppers,” Roush says, with a smile. “And yes, it is hot.”
For Roush, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, cooking is more than just the steps to a tasty meal. To him, it’s a sign he’s moving toward his ultimate goal: independence.
Like peers throughout the country, Roush, a sophomore at Indiana University, is a member of the first generation of college students with a widespread autism diagnosis reaching campuses. The growing numbers of students with autism on campuses reflect a change in the way doctors began to look at autism in the 1990s. Awareness spread, diagnoses increased, and school services emerged to include these students in mainstream classrooms.
At Indiana University, in the past decade, the number of students self-identifying as having autism has increased tenfold. In spring 2008, five students registered with the school for academic accommodations related to autism. Today, that number exceeds 50 students.
Students at a preschool camp in Avon, Ind., play a counting game. Many are calling on the legislature to expand the current pre-K pilot program to help more kids. (Elle Moxley/StateImpact Indiana)
The second half of the legislative session begins this week, and the House and Senate have two very different bills to expand state funded pre-K.
Both bills passed out of their original chambers and are now being considered by the opposite chamber of the statehouse. Before the session, both Republicans and Democrats supported expanding the pilot program and allocating more money for preschool scholarships for low-income children.
For the first time the number of Hoosier students using publicly-funded vouchers to attend a private school reached 3 percent of statewide enrollment, according to a new report.
Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program hit a record 34,299 students this academic year using the controversial tuition support but the overall growth of the program appears to be slowing down.
The Choice Scholarship Report, released by the Indiana Department of Education, also shows only a 5 percent increase of new students in the program for the 2016-17 school year compared to 2015-16.
Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn (center) is head of the Senate Committee on Education. (Peter Balonon-Rosen/Indiana Public Broadcasting)
So far this year, Indiana lawmakers have been debating, tweaking and analyzing a slew of education bills that could become law. They cover a range of topics: from preschool expansion, to school funding, to prayer in school.
This week was the halfway point for this year’s legislative session, and the Senate and House each passed the bills they are advancing to the next chamber. We’ve been following along.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
