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Indiana schools set to learn A-F grades after ISTEP discord

PINDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Schools across Indiana are set to learn their new A-F performance grades after months of discord over changes to the ISTEP standardized exam that led to big drops in student scores.

The State Board of Education is expected to vote Tuesday on approving the ratings for more than 2,000 public and private schools.

Schools can receive higher grades than last year, but not lower ratings. That’s because of a state law change approved by legislators and signed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence last week.

Slightly more than half of students passed both the language arts and mathematics portions of last year’s ISTEP exam, down from nearly 75 percent who passed both sections in 2014. The drop followed changes making the exam more difficult.