INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Two consultants hired by Indiana to help shorten this year's ISTEP+ exam say the state needs to do more to ensure that the problems aren't repeated.
 
A report released Monday by Edward Roeber and William Auty recommends improving communication between education leaders, hiring more staff and establishing committees to consult on the assessment process that affects about 450,000 students in grades 3 through 8.
 
The recommendations stem from an uproar over changes to this year's ISTEP+ exam that called for students to spend about 12 hours on testing. The changes were aligned to new state academic standards crafted after Indiana abandoned the national Common Core standards last spring.
 
Lawmakers working with the consultants and the Department of Education trimmed three hours from this year's test.