WARSAW — In response to the release of ILEARN results to the public this week, four superintendents in Kosciusko County school districts issued the following letter Friday, Sept. 6:

Dear Kosciusko County parents and shareholders:

Indiana Department of Education recently released scores from the latest version of state testing. The results of ILEARN indicated lower achievement levels across the state and in our county.

Although lower scores can be expected with a new test, it is frustrating scores don’t reflect the hard work of our students and teachers. Our school districts use other assessments for students, and those tests reflect a gradual increase in student achievement.

As superintendents in Kosciusko County, we are pleased Governor Holcomb, State Superintendent McCormick and many legislators are supporting a one-year pause from impacting school grades and teacher evaluations. We further hope the governor and legislators will go back to the practice of using assessments to assist individual students, rather than to grade schools. There are more efficient ways to gauge student progress and use the results to improve instruction.

As your superintendents, we believe in being accountable to our children and communities. ILEARN and previous state tests aren’t and haven’t worked, cost a lot of money, and don’t provide timely and useful information to help teachers.

We can do better for the children of our county and the state.

Sincerely,

Blaine Conley, superintendent, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation

Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent, Warsaw Community Schools

Dr. Brandon Penrod, superintendent, Whitko Community Schools

Dr. Thomas Edington, superintendent, Wawasee Community School Corporation

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