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Truth Summary

Governor Mike Pence addressed the issue of suspending accountability back in June of 2014 when Superintendent Ritz and the Indiana State Teacher’s Association first raised this issue. According to the letter the Governor released at that time, those responsible for setting education policy in Indiana are well aware of the concern and stand ready to “plot a measured and thoughtful course as we transition to a new state test with new expected performance levels…”.


“Together with top Indiana House and Senate leaders, our state is dedicated to preserving

strong accountability in our state. We do not support a pause in accountability as it relates to

delivering A-F grades to schools, determining intervention strategies in under-performing

schools, or teacher evaluations that reflect classroom performance. We believe that these

policies are essential to ensuring that every child has access to a quality school, that our

excellent teachers are rewarded for the quality outcomes they produce every day for our

students, and that we can identify our lower performing teachers and provide the support they

need to achieve more in their classrooms.

 

I understand that there is a legitimate concern that the adoption of new standards and the use

of a new test may lead to a temporary drop in scores that could adversely impact our

students, teachers, and schools. Under Indiana law, the Education Roundtable and the State

Board of Education have the statutory authority to set cut scores, which establish the

expected performance level for any state test. It is our full intent to plot a measured and

thoughtful course as we transition to a new state test with new expected performance levels,

while at the same time ensuring the results meaningfully reflect mastery of the standards.

This will ensure that our students, teachers, and schools are not impacted by what past

experience shows will be a short-term drop in scores, such as occurred when Indiana moved

from a fall to a spring test in 2008-2009.”  Governor Mike Pence, June 13, 2014

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