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New Harmony and Mount Vernon school systems are among those in the state that have shown “exemplary progress” according to new performance assessment data released last week by the Indiana Department of Education.
“Exemplary progress” is the highest of five categories that the state is using to classify school corporations and individual schools under Indiana Public Law 221.
The new performance assessment vehicle tracks students’ ISTEP math and English scores over a period of years.
This is different from the federal government’s No Child Left Behind law which puts schools in either a pass or fail category.
Statewide results under the new evaluation system broke down this way.
• Exemplary- 35.2 percent
• Commendable- 12.7 percent
• Academic Progress- 14.7 percent
• Watch- 31.4 percent
• Probation- 6.7 percent
North Posey placed in the “commendable” category.
Indiana elementary schools fared for better than their secondary counterparts. Fifty-five percent of 1,158 public elementary schools rated in the top two categories.
The percentage fell to 21 percent for public middle schools and 17 percent for public high schools.
“I think there’s both good news and alarming news in this,” said Suellen Reed, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “For schools in the bottom categories this should be a call to get to work.”
The only school system in the state to end up on academic probation was the Gary school district. Also 126 individual schools were placed on academic probation.