Jay County ISTEP scores drop

ISTEP scores went down across the state in 2016. Jay County was part of that trend.
Jay Schools director of testing and assessment Trent Paxson on Monday presented Jay School Board with a breakdown of the corporation’s test scores, showing that students in third through eighth grade scored above the state average while 10th graders came in below.
Overall scores were down, as 56.4 percent of the county’s third through eighth graders passed both the English and math portions of the test. Last year, that number was 61.2 percent.
Still, Jay County’s elementary and middle schools outperformed the state average on both tests. Those numbers were as follows:
Percent passing English — 68.8 percent in Jay County, 66.1 percent statewide.
Percent passing math —: 69 percent in Jay County, 58.9 percent statewide.
"The message is, it’s the second year in a row they’ve dropped … across the entire state," said Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley. "So, if you think about how difficult that test was this year, I want to commend our teachers and our students for a very solid performance on a very difficult test."
The story was different at the high school level, as Jay Schools performed well below the state average. Only 24.8 percent of local 10th graders passed both the English and math portions of ISTEP compared to 32.2 percent in Indiana overall.
Here’s the breakdown:
Percent passing English — 47.8 percent in Jay County, 59 percent statewide.
Percent passing math — 28 percent in Jay County, 34.6 percent statewide.
State officials are in the process of eliminating ISTEP and implementing a new test, although what that test will look like is unclear.
"Testing in the state is a mess," said Gulley, noting the both gubernatorial candidates acknowledged as much during campaigns for the Nov. 8 election. "We are adrift in the state on this.
"I expect things the next two or three years, I hope, to start to level out on testing and letter grades in the state. Once our folks know what the rules are, they play by them very well."
Gulley said he expects school letter grades to be down as well, noting that schools that have received A grades in the past may see B grades or lower. ISTEP scores were left out of the school grading formula last year after changes were made to make the test more difficult, but they will be in the mix this time around.
Redkey Elementary posted the highest passage rate on an individual test, with 86.5 percent of its students passing English. The school was also had the best scores in the county on that test a year ago.
Judge Haynes Elementary turned in the highest math passage rate for the second consecutive year, coming in at 81 percent.
Redkey also had the highest percentage of students passing both tests — 68 percent. Bloomfield was next at 66.4 percent followed by Pennville (61.8), Westlawn (61.1), East (60.4), Judge Haynes (59) and General Shanks (51.6).
East Jay Middle School came in at 56.3 percent, and West Jay Middle School was at 45.2 percent.