ISTA officer appointed to ISTEP review panel
04/26/2016

 

Callie Marksbary, third grade teacher at Vinton Elementary in Lafayette and ISTA treasurer, has been appointed to an ISTEP review panel established by the Indiana legislature. The panel is tasked with reviewing and developing an alternative to ISTEP.

 

“Her experiences as a teacher in an ISTEP and an iREAD grade make her a perfect candidate for understanding both the teacher and the student stressors and what really works,” said ISTA President Teresa Meredith. 

 

Superintendent Glenda Ritz appointed Marksbary and three others to the panel. Ritz’s office issued the following statement upon submission of her appointees:

“I have said for years that Indiana needs to get away from the expensive, high-stakes, pass-fail mindset of ISTEP and instead, use an assessment that actually works for students, parents and teachers. Thanks to the federal passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Indiana has the opportunity to design an assessment system that better meets the needs of Hoosiers.

 

Now, it is important that we take advantage of that flexibility to move us towards an assessment that is streamlined and student-centered so that teachers can focus on individual learning, rather than having to teach to a standardized test. That needed change is what I will pursue, and I look forward to this important work.”