INDIANAPOLIS – An option for schools to divvy up portions of Indiana’s ILEARN exams was approved by state lawmakers at the end of the 2024 legislative session and will change how thousands of Hoosier students are tested.
The provision was included in House Enrolled Act 1243, an omnibus education bill filled with action items supported by the Indiana Department of Education.
The assessment plan includes what state education officials call “flexible checkpoints” for schools to administer ILEARN preparation tests in language arts and math before the typical end-of-year summative tests. A dozen other states already have similar models.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said, “This is wildly popular amongst our educators and our parents.”
Based on a plan approved by the Indiana’s State Board of Education last summer, the “checkpoints” will consist of 20 to 25 questions and hone in on four to six state standards. The exams are designed to be administered to students about every three months, but local schools and districts can speed up testing if they wish.
“It’s a good first step,” said bill author Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis. “We are going to reduce the amount of time that we’re going to be spending on the summative test at the end of the year.”
Rather, schools will have “windows of time” to use the checkpoint assessments to monitor student success.
“It really, I think, moves us closer to having the ability to have a mastery-based system,” Behning continued.
Read the entire Casey Smith story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
