Parents now have online access to their child’s ISTEP+ scores from last school year and can request certain portions of the test be re-scored.

Deadline looms

The state has given parents until midnight Friday to submit an online request to have essay or open-ended questions on their child’s test re-scored if they think their child should have scored higher. Re-scoring is not an option for multiple choice questions.

In the past, teachers could ask for a re-score for students who missed passing the exam by just a few points, school officials said. That has since changed, and parents must now make that request.

Scores available online

Individual student scores were made available online to parents through the secure website, indiana.ctb.com, on Monday.

Check the backpack

Schools received the information late last week and sent home letters with online access codes for parents to be able to log in and see their child’s scores and request a re-score.

Adjustments to scores also may be made based on whether a child took the test online or with paper and pencil. The state has decided the online test may have been more difficult and is awarding bonus points to boost scores so they are more equitable with the paper-pencil test.

Going public

Scores are expected to change some before they are made public in December, eight months after students took the test. The exam was administered to all third- through eighth-graders last spring.

Typically, schools have their test scores before the start of the school year and use the information to place students and to create the state’s required school improvement plans.

Some local educators say getting the results back so late makes them useless, as students have moved on to learning new things.

Expect lower scores

The Indiana Department of Education has warned that scores likely will be lower than the 2013-14 scores because of the new test format and education standards.

Digging into data

“The scores are still considered secured, so we are not allowed to share these scores publicly,” said Lori Lister, principal of Cortland Elementary School and testing coordinator for Seymour Community School Corp.

Lister was expected to give an update on testing and scoring at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

Greg Walker, superintendent of Brownstown Central Community School Corp., said schools received the preliminary scores late Friday and are currently “digging into them.”

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How did your child do on the ISTEP exam?

Parents: Check your student’s score online by going to https://indiana.ctb.com/

How did your child’s school do?

The Indiana Department of Education expects to release the final scores in mid-December.

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