Parents: ILEARN starts Monday

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - If you have a child in grades three through eight, their Indiana State testing starts on Monday. The ISTEP test is no more. Now students are taking a brand new test called ILEARN.

It comes with a good number of differences. Come Monday, students across the state of Indiana will be logging in for ILEARN.

Teachers helped design the computer adaptive test with the student experience in mind.

“So you will get harder questions as you answer a question correctly or you’ll get easier questions as you answer a question incorrectly, so each student will essentially see their own unique test because they’ll have their own unique set of questions based on how they perform on those questions,” says Catherine Minihan.

Minihan is Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Deputy Superintendent for School Support. She says perhaps the biggest difference students will notice is that ILEARN has no time limit.

“For students who have test anxiety about you know where see the clock ticking and you feel the weight of time running out,” says Minihan.

It is no secret that ISTEP caused its fair share of complications. Minihan is hopeful ILEARN’s changes will create a more positive testing experience across the board and better reflect what students have learned in the classroom.

Now, parents Minihan has some tips for sending your kids off for success.

“It’s kind of the same thing you would want to do for your kid when they’re going to school. Good night’s sleep, breakfast, that sort of thing,” says Minihan.

Most importantly, keep kids calm.

“Just helping our kids know that this is an opportunity for them to show what they’ve learned and to think about it that way instead of a stressful testing situation,” says Minihan.

ILEARN has one testing period as opposed to ISTEP’s two split sections. Schools choose when to start testing as long as they are finished by the time the testing window ends.

Scores are expected in August.

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