ISTEP+ gains come amid increasing accountability

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana students made improvements across the board on the state’s standardized test this year amid a push for more school accountability and the first state takeovers of failing schools.

Scores released Tuesday show 71 percent of the 500,000 students tested in grades three through eight passed both the language arts and math sections of the ISTEP+ exam, an improvement of 1 percentage point from last year and 8 percentage points from the 2008-09 school year. The passing rate for the math portion rose 2 percentage points to 81 percent, while 79 percent passed the language arts section, up 1 percentage point from a year ago. Students also showed improvements on the science and social studies exams.