Imagine being sent to a foreign country, where you do not know the language, and being forced to take a standardized test. Then imagine if your performance reflects poorly on your school and your school district.

For hundreds of East Allen County Schools students, this is reality.

EACS schools with a high diversity mix, especially those with a large influx of Burmese students, showed dramatic drops this year in the number of students passing ISTEP+.

The Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus standardized test measures how well students in grades 3-8 and 10 know the material taught in their classes. ISTEP+ tests students in English/language arts and math, and science for grades 5 and 7.

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.

Meadowbrook Elementary, which has about 90 Burmese students, 80 who arrived in 2007, dropped significantly in all grades and in all tested areas. In the third grade, it went from 72 percent and 67 percent of the students passing English/language arts and math, respectively, in 2007 to 41 percent and 36 percent passing this year.

“I don't want to do anything to make people think we're putting blame on one subgroup,” said EACS Deputy Superintendent Jan MacLean. “We're not seeing that as an excuse. We see our diversity as a strong (advantage) in this district.”

At Prince Chapman Academy, the story is the same, despite efforts to implement programs - such as A-Team Scholars, which gives students money for college for good grades - to turn scores around.

“That composition (of more diverse schools) is making an impact on our district, and we are responding to that,” MacLean said.

While Prince Chapman has added workers and instituted new curriculum materials to aid the ESL (English as a Second Language) students, new arrivals and those who still do not speak English are still required to take the ISTEP+ test every year. One Burmese advocate called it difficult, if not impossible, for these students to pass.

“It borders on child abuse,” said Joe Nichols, IPFW educational department chair who also works with a Burmese literacy program.



Fort Wayne Community Schools saw drops in the number of students passing all three sections of the test across the district, and the district has some of the same challenges.

“The state is becoming more diverse. Our district is becoming more diverse,” Superintendent Wendy Robinson said during a news conference Thursday morning announcing the results. “You adjust instruction every day. You don't wait for ISTEP to come out in December.”

Southwest Allen County Schools, which released its scores Tuesday, is finding the same to be true after fewer students passed the test this year districtwide. Northwest Allen County Schools is resting secure, though, in knowing what it has done in the past is working.

While the district saw drops in a few grades, most either increased this year or stayed the same across the district. Assistant Superintendent Gloria Shamanoff said the schools are just doing what works.

“We did some reconfigurations last year, (but mostly) we have remained consistent in what we're doing with our curriculum,” she said.