The Indiana Department of Education received nearly $3 million from the federal government through the Competitive Grants for State Assessments program. Indiana was one of 10 states to receive the grant, which is meant to help states develop and implement high-quality education assessments.
Molly Williams, deputy director of communications at IDOE, said the department will use the grant to implement changes to Indiana’s ILEARN exam over the next three years. IDOE is redesigning the test and adding three checkpoints throughout the year to measure student progress before the final test at the end of the school year.
The ILEARN measures students’ mastery of multiple subjects in grades three through eight. Officials said the new checkpoints will show where students are struggling so educators can provide targeted intervention to students who need it.
About 1,350 schools are piloting the new test format this year. IDOE plans to fully implement it statewide next school year.
READ MORE: ILEARN scores largely stagnant as less than half pass end-of-year assessment
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Williams said the federal assessment grant will help provide resources and training for teachers and parents to understand and use the new system. It will also help IDOE match data-driven recommendations to high-quality learning resources for students and schools.
Additionally, the grant will allow IDOE to use the data collected throughout the year to predict students’ performance on the final ILEARN exam.
Kirsten is our education reporter. Contact her at kadair@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @kirsten_adair.