ISTEP Replacement Bill Moves Forward

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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA bill that would kill the statewide ISTEP exam has cleared the Indiana Senate. House Bill 1395, which also includes the creation of a panel to make recommendations for a replacement test, heads back to the House for approval.
The bill originally included language that would have called for the rescoring of last year’s results. That provision was amended out in the Senate Education Committee. Democrats in committee and the full Senate were unsuccessful in attempts to add an amendment that would make the state superintendent of public instruction co-chair of the proposed test recommendation panel.
HB 1395 calls for ISTEP to expire in July 2017. The panel to help craft a replacement would be convened later this year. If the amended version is approved in the House, the proposed legislation would head to Governor Mike Pence’s desk.