Hoosier Students Begin New ILEARN Testing This Week; It Replaces the ISTEP

WITZ Radio News is an affiliate of Network Indiana 

STATEWIDE -- A new form of standardized testing will be implemented this week.

ILEARN is replacing the ISTEP exam as the statewide standardized test for students in elementary, middle and high school. The test is taken on a computer rather than using a number-2 pencil and a testing booklet.

The test uses computer adaptive software in order to make the test more understandable for students taking it. The software adapts the exam to each student's mastery of the content throughout the test. Each time a student answers a question the software their response helps determine what the next question will be.

Experts say the test will adjust to each student's skill set, which will in turn provide a better measure of what that students knows. The test also has no time limit so students can take as much time as they need to finish the exam.

Though the exam is changing, the state's standards that the students will have to meet to pass it are not.

Locally, schools will begin the ILEARN exam this Wednesday.