McCormick seeks nomination

Jennifer McCormick believes there’s more than enough blame to go around when it comes to dysfunction at the Indiana Department of Education.
The important thing now, she told a group of Jay County educators Tuesday, is restoring professionalism and timely, effective communication to the department.
McCormick, currently superintendent of Yorktown Community Schools, is seeking the Republican nomination at the party’s convention this spring to be state superintendent of public instruction. If she receives the nomination, she’ll face incumbent Democrat Glenda Ritz, who has been at odds with Gov. Mike Pence.
“Whoever the people elect as governor, I would work with that person,” McCormick said, expressing a desire to “extend the olive branch.”
She expressed concern with the current process to replace ISTEP as the state’s system of standardized testing, saying that it seems rushed and politically driven.
“I don’t want to replace ISTEP with something that’s just five different letters,” she said. Changes in federal law in the wake of No Child Left Behind will create an opportunity in the 2017-18 year to make meaningful changes in standardized testing.
“Our moment for local control will be ’17-18,” she said. “In my opinion we’ve got a shot at this. … ’17-’18 is big if we take that opportunity. … That’s our moment … a chance to make something simple out of something complex.”
One possibility, she said, is a “menu” approach to testing that reflects the differences between school corporations and their student bodies, though it’s not clear how that would mesh with teacher accountability standards.
“The menu thing makes sense if we can pull it off,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all.” She added, “It’s about trying to bring leadership back … making sure we have a state that has a vision (for education) … No one has been able to articulate that for me.”
McCormick began her career in education as a special education teacher and later as a language arts teacher at the middle school level. She became principal of Yorktown Elementary, then assistant superintendent at Yorktown, before being named superintendent in 2010.
She holds a PhD in educational leadership from Indiana State University, a masters in special education from Ball State University and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Purdue University. She resides in Muncie.
“Regardless of who gets in, we have to work together,” McCormick said. “You will never hear me play the victim. … I have no patience with that.”