Ask the HiLite: Why are students taking ISTEP in high school now and what are the details involved in testing this year?

HTCI
Brad Sever, assistant principal and school test administrator answers questions about the effectiveness of ISTEP

Q: How effective would you say is the ISTEP at evaluating students’ academic abilities?

A: I think that it’s good to have some sort of a common measurement for students, but I think it’s important that it’s viewed as a snapshot of a student’s ability. I think it’s good in terms of looking at students’ academic achievement to look a more balanced student profile, so how well students do on their exams in their individual courses, how students are participating in class activities such as discussions and presentations and projects.

Q: If you were in the position to do so, what changes would you make to the ISTEP test?

A:  I believe in more of an assessment that would measure individual student growth, so for example, I think it’s really interesting what the College Board is doing with the PSAT because now there’s a PSAT 8/9, a PSAT and many students take the SAT and now those assessments are vertically articulated so a student can get the results back from their SAT and see sort of how they’ve grown since their freshman year. In terms of standardized testing, that’s a really good measurement that you are comparing the student to the student, not the student to another student necessarily.