The Indiana Department of Education unveiled Wednesday its second draft of a proposed school accountability model that, if approved, would once again measure schools' performance using an "A-F" grading scale, with the grade dependent on the average points of all of its students.
The updated proposal presented to the State Board of Education was largely similar to the first draft introduced in June; The second draft included new indicators which students could earn points for.
State board member Erika Dilosa -who also serves as the director of special education for 21st Century Charter School in Gary,- said, “I love that the model is heading this way, it's not punitive, but it creates opportunities for students that may have been overlooked in the past.”
Broadly, the proposed point-based system would first score individual students based on their academic performance, measured by standardized test results, including ILEARN and SAT. It would then give them points for additional indicators, such as school attendance, performance on the social studies and science portions of ILEARN, completion of college-level courses and participation in work-based learning experiences.
An online public comment period is open now through Nov. 17. An in-person public hearing on the second draft will take place at 11 a.m. on Nov. 17 in the history reference room at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis.
More information about the proposed school accountability model is available on IDOE's website.
