The State Board of Education has given permission for the IDOE (Indiana Department of Education) to extend their time to finish their homework.
The A-F grades for every public school in the state were supposed to be published on October 15, but a vote by the State Board of Education stalled the release until November 5. The Board’s agenda on Wednesday included the approval of the grades.
According to reports, the delay is the result of data errors that affected five schools. Additional information reported said that a testing company failed to report all the International Baccalaureate test data for the schools, which in turn affected the overall data.
Board officials questioned Glenda Ritz, superintendent of public instruction, about how the errors were not found earlier and accepting the school’s appeals for grade changes. Schools are given the grades prior to the public release to allow them to review and appeal to the state if they felt the grade did not provide an accurate picture of the school’s performances. All appeals had to be referred to the state by September 28.
The final board vote was 7-1 to table the approval of the grades.
Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, that State Board of Education changed the labels of school categories that are based on student performance. The A-F rating replaced the terms exemplary, commendable, academic progress, academic watch and academic probation. The revised reporting system was touted as being a more transparent way to inform the public.
Carol Anders Correspondent
