Southern Indiana students prepare for IREAD and ILEARN exams

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- Teachers at Mt. Tabor Elementary School were busy preparing students for big exams Monday.

The exams will be different this year for the first time in a long time. ISTEP is out. ILEARN is in.

Students in grades 3-8 and some sophomores in high school will be taking ILEARN. It's different than what Indiana students have become used to over the years.

"All students will not be given the exact same assessment," said Sally Jensen, director of assessment and student information for New Albany Floyd County Schools.

That's how ISTEP operated. ILEARN adapts more to your child. The path the test takes depends on how your student answers the questions.

"It will give students potentially more success at where they are," Jensen said.

ILEARN is also an un-timed test, and while the standards remain the same, teachers and administrators trust the results will have more detail.

"What we're hoping is just to get better information back on each student, so we can use that with the parent moving forward," Jensen said.

Students won't take the ILEARN exam until April. IREAD is up first. It measures foundational reading standards among third graders. It's not new, but it starts next week in New Albany Floyd County Schools because of spring break.

To view sample ILEARN questions, CLICK HERE.