The local organization Fishers One has issued a challenge to the local school board, citing iLearn test score data, but HSE School officials paint a different picture of the iLearn results.

Fishers One says it wants the local school board to “reprioritize its agenda and take
practical steps toward improving academic performance across all HSE Schools.”

The group cites the following iLearn data:

• More than 50% of HSE 8th graders are below an 8th grade proficiency in Math
• Nearly 40% of HSE 8th graders are below an 8th grade proficiency in English/
Language Arts.

“We are calling on the HSE School Board to take meaningful steps toward
academic improvement in this new school year and to prioritize learning
recovery for all students above everything else,” says Fishers One.

The local school district has a different view.

“As one of the largest school districts in the state, Hamilton Southeastern Schools ranks as one of the highest-performing public schools, according to the most recent ILEARN proficiency assessment results,” HSE Schools say in a statement to LarryInFishers.

The district says Math and English Language Art increased 5% from the previous year.  School officials also point to “notable growth in all student subgroups, and we are trending in the right direction.”

Superintendent Yvonne Stokes mentioned some of this data while speaking to teachers Tuesday morning in the annual day-before-school-starts event.

“Our teachers and staff work diligently every day to prepare our more than 21,000 students to meet and exceed the standards associated with high academic achievement and becoming a productive member of society,” the HSE statement says.  “While there is always room for improvement, any association of letter grades with proficiency percentages is an inaccurate representation of the assessment.”