INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – An Indiana Senate education committee has advanced a bill setting parameters for a new state test that will replace the ISTEP exam.
The measure approved Wednesday on a 7 to 4 vote now goes to the full Senate. The bill by Rep. Bob Behning mandates that a new test, to be called ILEARN, be in place by 2019. But critics note the state has not yet picked a test. And they worry that the tight timeline and uncertainty could lead to the same circumstances that prompted lawmakers to ditch the ISTEP.
The ISTEP became politically charged issue after Republicans undertook a number of education overhauls in recent years.
RELATED: Indiana lawmakers approve plan to eliminate ISTEP tests in 2017
Indiana students performed poorly on one recent version of the test that was not only more difficult, but also plagued by administrative glitches.
RELATED: WOWO EXCLUSIVE: Where are we now with the state’s ISTEP exams?
