Over half of Indiana schools met feds' academic expectations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Over half of Indiana schools met or exceeded federal academic expectations based on their 2018-19 performance, state education officials said.

Data released Friday by the Indiana Department of Education show that over 56 percent of Indiana high schools and 53 percent of elementary and middle schools received a rating of Meets Expectations or Exceeds Expectations in the Federal School Accountability Ratings.

Although 205 Indiana schools, or about 11 percent, didn't meet the federal expectations, 620 Indiana schools, or about 34 percent, received the federal assessment's Approaching Expectations rating.

The federal ratings are based on multiple factors, including students' proficiency on statewide tests, graduation rates, the closing of achievement gaps and other factors on a point scale varying in range.

The state generally assigns schools an A-F letter grade, but the State Board of Education adopted a resolution withholding any vote to release those accountability scores until the General Assembly takes official action in the upcoming legislative session, The Journal Gazette reported.

That followed a request by State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick and the General Assembly to pass a 'œhold harmless'ť on 2018-19 state accountability grades after ILEARN test results showed less than half of students passed the new standardized exam.