The ISAT program is the state's latest effort to find out if schools are doing their job. Scores were disappointingly low the first year, and officials had hoped to see improvement this time around. Statewide, however, students barely improved in writing and dipped in reading. Of all the ISATs given, only 63 percent received passing scores. The results underscore the challenges for state officials as they try to ensure that children receive a superior education, even as educators disagree about the best way to measure whether schools are providing one.
Further changes are in the works.
The tests measure the performance of public school children against standards set by the state. For the first time since 1988, when the state began using annual exams that have evolved into the ISAT, there are no comprehensive state scores for high schools. Combined, those 348 would be less than half the 750 that would land on those warning or watch lists under the current standard. Fewer than 100 schools fell into these categories before the ISAT was introduced. The board also wants to implement more tests.