INDIANA, (WOWO): The ISTEP assessment is underway for many school districts; with no one knowing exactly how the results will be used by the time they are available this fall.

The ISTEP window began last week, but many school districts waited until this week to begin the standardized test due to so many days being missed because of heavy snow this winter. There will be written tests given to students in grades 3-through-8 this month, with the online portion of the exam to be given starting in April.

The online part was where multiple glitches interrupted testing for thousands of students last year, though the test‘s creator, CTB-McGraw Hill says their servers will be ready to handle the workload this year.

ISTEP is one of the main components of the A-to-F grades given to schools by the Department of Education, but the way those grades are compiled is being revised, and State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz has long criticized the role of what she calls “high stakes testing” in how schools are evaluated. The State Board of Education is also in the midst of writing new academic standards at the direction of the General Assembly, which could mean an end to Indiana‘s participation in the Common Core curriculum.