Southwest Allen County Schools has some work to do. That was the statement made after the 2008 ISTEP+ results were presented to the board Tuesday night.

In nearly every grade, in all three subject areas, fewer students passed the test than in 2007.

“Our schools are really going to need to look at their student bodies and find out what it is and where it is and find out where our proficiencies are,” Assistant Superintendent Nancy Carey told the board.

Every section of the test saw 1 to 8 percent fewer students passing except for eighth-grade math, which saw 1 percent more pass. Fourth-grade English/Language Arts and seventh-grade math remained the same from 2007.

The Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus measures how well students in grades 3-10 know the material taught in their classes.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Public Law 221, a state accountability law, schools face penalties if their performance fails to meet standards. All students are tested in English/Language Arts and math.

Fifth- and seventh-graders are also tested in science.

Some perspective, however: The passing percentages still remained high for the grades across the district, with on average more than 80 percent of the students passing each section of the ISTEP+ test.

The only passing percentages to fall into the 70s were the science tests. Carey reassured the board, though, that this has nothing to do with the removal of the science specialists earlier this year. Seven science specialists were removed from their positions and made regular teachers when the district found it could not support the specialized positions due to budget cuts. No jobs were lost in the move.

A particular area of concern, Carey explained, was the fall in the number of special-education students passing each section of the test, especially as the students got older.

By the time students reached the 10th grade, only 38 percent were passing the English/Language Arts section. That number was only slightly higher for the math section at 47 percent.

“We have some work to do there,” Carey said, explaining the need goes all the way down to the third-graders.

No solutions have yet been offered for the drop, with Carey explaining she has not had time to fully examine the data. She said she would try to have more information Thursday when the state releases data for schools across the state.

ENGLISH/LANG. ARTS (passing percentages)

Grade	2008	2007
3	85	88
4	87	87
5	86	87
6	81	87
7	81	85
8	84	88
9	n/a	84
10	84	86

Note: Ninth-graders now take end-of-class assessments instead of the graduation qualifying exam, which was previously given in 10th grade.

MATH (passing percentages)

Grade	2008	2007
3	83	85
4	81	89
5	84	87
6	85	89
7	91	91
8	91	90
9	n/a	86
10	86	87

SCIENCE (passing percentages)

Grade	2008	2007
5	78	82
7	75	80