INDIANAPOLIS -- ISTEP results from the spring 2017 test show little to no improvement among Indiana students for the third year in a row.
The 2016-17 ISTEP pass/fail rates were released by the Indiana Department of Education on Wednesday.
About 51.5 percent of third through eighth-grade students passed both the English and math sections of this year's test, that's down from 52 percent last year and 53.5 percent the year before.
The purpose of the ISTEP test is to measure student achievement in several different areas according to the Indiana Academic Standards adopted by the Indiana Board of Education.
- Mathematics
- English/Language Arts
- Science (Grades 4, 6 & 10)
- Social Studies ( Grades 5 & 7)
2017 was the third year of a new state assessment for third through eighth grades based on Indiana's more rigorous college and career-ready standards after withdrawing from Common Core.
In March, 2016, then-Governor Mike Pence signed a bill that will eventually eliminate the ISTEP test and replace it with a new computer-adaptive test, ILEARN.
ILEARN could replace ISTEP as early as the 2018-19 school year. Students would take the ILEARN test during a single testing window at the end of each school year.
To help improve test scores, some schools have developed tutoring programs foe students.
Volunteers from area churches donate their time at James Whitcomb Elementary to help students develop reading, writing and math skills. Fewer than 1-in-10 students at the school passed the math portion of the test.
With the program in its third year, principal Bakari Posey is hopeful the tutoring is making a difference.
"The overall of where students passed is nowhere near where we want to be," said Posey. "You have students that come to you from all over the spectrum with skills. The students who don't come with prerequisite skills, they already have a gap. We're still filling the gap."
Check out the results from the spring 2017 ISTEP testing below.
3rd-8th Grade Results
- 65.2 percent passed reading
- 58.5 percent passed math
- 51.5 percent passed both
Check out the 3rd through 8th-grade snapshots below.
10th Grade Results
- 60.7 percent of 10th graders passed reading
- 36.9 percent of 10th graders passed math
- 34.4 percent of 10th graders passed both
Check out the 10th-grade snapshots below.
Full third through eighth-grade results:
Full 10th-grade results:
