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Death notice updates at www.pal-item.com 2016 Palladium-Item Page 5Awww.pal-item.com BITUARIES RIVERSIDE OnFebruary5, RiversideCommunityHos in2010.Helivedwiththeir andDavid(Shanndolyn) andtwogreatgrandchil- hislegacy. GeorgeEsselburn RalphA.Carpenter,age72 ofRichmondpassedaway peacefullyThursday(March HewasborninTitusville, RalphandLouiseChristy Carpenter.Ralphservedhis countryproudbeinghon- orablydischargedfromthe workedatKemperCabinet Companyformanyyears untilheretired.Hewas amemberofLivingFaith ChurchofGodandenjoyed attendingSundaymorning services.Ralphenjoyedlife tothefullestalwaysjoking aroundwitheverybody.He likedclassiccarsandspend- willbegreatlymissed. Survivorsincludehiswife MarjorieWyattCarpenter; sonsRandy(Heather)Car- penterandRustyCarpen- additiontohisparentsheis alsoprecededindeathbyhis siblingsMauriceCarpenter, AliceAdamsandBethCar- penter. ServicesforRalphwill Wednesday(March30, 2016)inLivingFaith ChurchofGod.PastorAl- BurialwillfollowinEarlham CemeteryVeteranFieldof Honor.Friendsmaycall onWednesday(March30, RalphCarpenter NancyA.Burgess,81 WINCHESTER NancyA. VincentRandolphHospitalin Winchester.
Arrangementsarepending atWalkerFuneralHomein Winchester. mond. mond. p.m.,Urban-WinklerFuneralHome, Connersville. mond.
SERVICES CreekofNewCastle. ShewasborninNew JohnandBessie(Tapscott) Framptonandlivedmost ofherlifeinHagerstown. Estherwasalifemember ofNewCastleChurchof Christ.Alongwithherhus- andoperatedWaltzWrecker ServiceinHagerstownfrom 1950untilhisdeathin2004. Survivorsincludetwo Lois)andDianaCriswell, ofCincinnatiandseveral niecesandnephews. Inadditiontoherhus- NewmanandLoisWoods.
A.M.Thursday,March31, atCulbersonFuneralHome. PastorMattWickhamwill inWestLawnCemetery. Visitationwillbefrom5to 7P.M.Wednesday. Memorialsmaybemade toNettleCreeFoodPan- Onlinecondolencesmay beleftatwww.culbersonfh. com EstherM.Waltz panel has until Dec.
1to recommend a new stand ardized test Hoosier stud ents will begin taking in he 2017-18 school year. Any new test likely will resemble the ISTEP at least in its content. Unknown is how far educa- ors will go in altering the est. Will they undertake robust revisions? Or will they simply change the name and keep the exam the same? he future of the esting program is now in he hands of a 23-member anel whose design has already sparked a political fight. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction lenda Ritz and her sup- orters are mad the Republican-controlled General Assembly appoint her to lead the group.
Instead, Pence, whose utted heads with Ritz ver education policy, will ame the chairperson. Ritz, a Democrat, has blasted the Republican governor, saying the head the panel will be a i cal appointee of the most olitical person in the Responding to those claims, Pence argued the panel is well with an emphasis on teachers and school administrators serving as members. Politics seem to creep into every education poli- discussion in Indiana, said Betsy Wiley, CEO of Institute for Quality Edu- ation. But Wiley said the panel could take on a diff erent tone. I think during an election year it will be very diff icult to turn that corner, but perhaps with the large makeup of the board we an get past that a little bit and focus on the policy, which is where I think we eed to Wiley said.
How did Indiana get ere? Lawmakers killed the ISTEP after a series of administrative issues with the test damaged its repu- ation among teachers, students and parents beyond repair. But getting rid of the test is hardly a new idea. Back in 2010, state education officials under Gov. Mitch Daniels had already ontemplated ending IS- TEP by joining Common Core and a testing consortium called PARCC. The roup of states were working to develop a standardized test based off the national set of academic standards.
But Indiana abruptly left the Common Core in 2014 after tea party a ctivists concerned about federal intrusion in schools criticized the earning benchmarks. That prompted Indiana to write new academic tandards. Soon after, state officials learned oosier students would need to take a test to measure their knowledge of the more rigorous standards beginning in spring 2015. when Indiana issed a window of oppor- unity, said Kevin Brineg ar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. chamber thinks unfortunate that given have a whole new test a nd whole new standards implemented last year that the superintendent and Department of Education chose to continue to all it Brinegar aid.
not the I STEP that was in exist ence prior to last year. In hindsight, I think just about everyone would agree we should have given the new test a new rinegar said if the panel determines the state needs to start from scratch, he expects the final product would look a ot like the new, more rig- rous test students began aking last year. The state is paying $56.4 million to administer that test for three years. I am confident that hey are going to rebrand ecause the term has become toxic, and whatever the new test is, it be called ISTEP. The question is how different will the test Brineger said.
one hand, I see it being radically different because it has to be aligned to our Some lawmakers, inc luding fiscal leader Sen. Luke Kenley, a Noblesville Republican, want the state explore moving to an off-the-shelf test in an ef- ort to save money but also etter compare Hoosier students to their peers in ther states. Lee Ann Kwiatkowski, amember of the Indiana tate Board of Education, said the ultimate decision will lie some- here between a simple rebranding and drastic changes. She said parents and students want to know if their children are target, if they are at grade Time for another political fight? Did the legislature provide enough time for a new test to be implemented? Along-time state testing director and a number of assessments experts aid the timeline is concerning. Students will take the existing ISTEP until spring 2017 with the new est expected to begin the next school year.
of the difficulties in being a state assessment director is that a timeline that is realistic and fair to develop and to eal with changes in standards and assessment is not a timeline that the leg- i slative process or the public likes. To do things well in assessment takes a long said Wes Bruce, who formerly served as he Department of chief assessment officer for 12 years. Ginette Delandshere, an Indiana University education professor, sounded ahigher alarm. they are going to eliminate the test by July 2017, they should be way i nto test development right now, and they even Delandsh- re said. The panel will need to ubmit its recommenda- ion for replacing the IS- TEP to Pence and the Gene ral Assembly by Dec.
1. The 23 members will include appoint- ents by Pence and Republican legislative leaders David Long and Brian osma, as well as appointments by Ritz, a Democrat. Pence, who has five appointments on the board, must select a chair who is a current or former educator. That means app ointees will be outnumbered and the board could easily take action that Ritz, the highest elected education official, opposes framework that could surely reignite the political power struggles that ave come to define education policy debates in Indiana for the past four years. itz, head of the Department of Education, had pushed to be named the co-chair but failed.
Pence and Ritz have clashed since they were oth elected in 2012. Pence created, and then disbanded, a separate education a gency. Last year, the General Assembly effectively re- oved Ritz as chairwoman of the State Board of ducation in 2017 in the event she wins re-election. They also wrangled over the 2015 ISTEP that was initially double the length compared to previous years. just disheartening to me sometimes when I feel like kind of kirting around the political said Rep.
Melanie Wright, a Yorktown emocrat. think maybe unintentionally I hope nintentionally ot doing best for he education policy leader said the requirement to have a rec- mmendation of an ISTEP alternative by Dec. 1is than norm ally like. To buy more time, Rep. Robert Behning said the state could choose to extend its contract with Pearson Education, the company administering the ISTEP this year and in 2017.
Or the state could re- ame the test, and the new format start the following year, the Indianapolis Republican said. all depends on how much time it takes to develop and how different it is from past ehning said. One thing that could help Indiana in creating a new test is the fact the tate owns its test questions. Educators interviewed by IndyStar say they want ashorter, more periodic test that better tracks student improvement and ives immediate feedback. Steve Baker, principal a Bluffton High School, said some of his colleagues are tired of constant hange in testing and the resulting anxiety and tress.
really think ISTEP has run its Baker said. been around for what is it 30 some years and I just think what it was intended for really has ind of run its course. With he high stakes of testing, I ust think ISTEP fits the bill anymore for what we need in the school But Baker realizes that hile the name of ISTEP ill go away, the test still look like a standardized assessment required by the Are students better served because I STEP existed? ISTEP started in 1988 out of a series of legislative changes pushed by Gov. Robert D. Orr.
Since hen, standardized testing as cost Indiana a good chunk of change. The General Assembly has appropriated more than $800 million for test- i ng and remediation since 1 987, according to an Ind yStar analysis. That figure also includes state- mandated tests other than ISTEP and remedial fund- i ng for students. Contracts how since 2002 the state as spent more than $300 million on administering ISTEP. So what did Indiana get for that money? Student scores under the old ISTEP generally trended up before they fell by 20 percentage points in 2015 under the revamped test.
I ndiana also has improved its ratings in some areas on the National Ass essment of Educational Progress a test in rades 4 and 8 re- arded as the report Indiana ranked ourth in the nation in Grade 4 math for the 2015 test. For Grade 8, Indiana limbed to 11th in the nation for math, compared to 19th in 2013. The state saw i ts rankings in reading also improve. But Indiana saw a slight decrease in its high school graduation rate in 2015. ISTEP has reflected the academic standards to create a more rig- rous learning environment for students, said Bluffton High Baker, who also is with the Indiana Association of School Principals.
But the test has gotten away from its original mission, he ar- ued. When ISTEP began, students were given the test to determine if they eeded remediation. Students who failed were required to take summer school. The test grew increasingly controversial when lawmakers began tying ass-fail rates to teacher pay and school A-to-F ratings. Opponents argue the est offers only a snapshot in time of what a student knows and because of that be used to judge teachers or schools.
It has unfortunately taken over a lot of the school Baker said. overall approach that Indiana has for its testing has been good, has been effective, as been valuable to teach- rs. I just think lately the endulum swung maybe a little too Brinegar with the Indiana Chamber said education in the state certainly as improved. The combi- ation of the research behind the academic standards and testing student performance relative to those standards led better student out- he said. Changes to federal law Indiana is on the hunt for an ISTEP alternative at the same time as Congress ade changes to the na- main education accountability law.
The new Every Student Succeeds Act marks an overhaul of the unpopular Child Left Behind Act hat led to the growth of tandardized testing across the country. The revised federal law change esting requirements but i expected to give states ore flexibility in how students are tested. states are trying to put their own individual stamp on their assessments partly for political said Henry Braun, education professor at Boston College. is our test, and nobody outside our state is oing to tell us what to do whether the federal government or other But there are downs ides to constant changes i testing even if they are to make the test more opular. you are always switching tests, then eachers are not focusing on real improvement in teaching and learning.
hey are trying to figure out what test is coming down the line said Scott Marion with the Center for Assessment. For now, state officials are working to dispel any notions that ISTEP will go a way, and no standardized test will follow. Last Tuesday, Pence visited a Zionsville elementary to sign the ISTEP repeal into law. In doing so, the governor kept it real. He announced ISTEP ould end in 2017 to applause of teachers and students.
I expect some of hat applause were from kids that were glad to hear atest gone away, but the good news for Pence said. bad news is going to keep A few children in the audience responded, all IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on witter: sea. Testing Continued from Page 1A WHO WILL SIT ON THE ISTEP EPLACEMENT PANEL? Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz. Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Steve Braun.
Higher Education Commissioner Teresa Lubbers. Senate education policy leader, Sen. Dennis Kruse. House education policy leader, Rep. Robert Behning The then following appointments who must be made by May 1 State Board of Education member.
Five appointments by Gov. Mike Pence (chairperson, teacher, principal, school superintendent, faculty Four appointments by Senate President Pro Tem David Long (teacher, principal, school superintendent, business leader). Four appointments by House Speaker Brian Bosma (teacher, principal, school superintendent, parent). Four appointments by Ritz (teacher, principal, school superintendent, school employee organization member). CHELSEA INDYSTAR Gov.
Mike Pence signs the bill that ends ISTEP by July 2017 hile surrounded by children at Eagle Elementary School in Zionsville on March 22. Find news, weather and sports updates at www.pal-item.com.
