Indianapolis charter high schools rank near the bottom on the 2016 ISTEP

Find our all our stories and databases on the 2016 ISTEP test results, as well as other testing coverage, here.

Of the Indianapolis public high schools that saw the lowest ISTEP passing rates this year, most were charter schools, including some that were taken over by the state years ago for consistently low test scores.

High schoolers took the ISTEP for the first time last spring rather than subject-specific exams in Algebra I, freshman English and biology. The inaugural high school ISTEP, which was given to 10th-graders in math and English, didn’t go well for many schools across the state. When the results were released last week, only 32.2 percent of Hoosier students passed both exams.

The scores were even lower for some charter high schools in Marion County including Hoosier Academy’s hybrid virtual school. Not a single student passed both exams at the school, where students have the option of working from home or in a school building.

Scores also bottomed out at Carpe Diem Shadeland charter high school, which was temporarily closed in August due to low enrollment. The students were merged with those at Carpe Diem’s Meridian campus. The school was one of three high schools run by the Carpe Diem charter network that ranked among the worst performing high schools in the county.

These are the 10 Marion County public high schools with the lowest ISTEP passing rates. Chalkbeat included demographic information about the schools since research shows that schools with more white and affluent students tend to do better on standardized tests because of biases in the way tests are created and different levels of resources at schools attended by lower-income kids.

Howe High School. This former IPS school has been managed by the Florida-based for-profit Charter Schools USA since the school was taken over by the state in 2012 after years of low test scores. This year, just 5.9 percent of students passed both ISTEP exams.

Demographics:

  • 53.5 black, 31 percent white, 8.2 percent Hispanic, 7.1 percent multiracial
  • Data is not available on the percent of students who qualify for meal assistance.

Carpe Diem Meridian. At this charter school, 5.9 percent of students passed both tests.Demographics:

  • 69.6 percent black, 20.6 percent white, 5.2 percent multiracial, 4.1 percent Hispanic.
  • 69.6 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Arlington High School. This IPS school, which was returned to the district last year after the Tindley charter network declined to continue managing it, saw 5.1 percent of students pass both exams.

Demographics:

  • 86.5 percent black, 7.2 percent Hispanic, 3.7 percent white, 2.6 percent multiracial.
  • 61.2 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

George Washington High School. At this IPS school, 4.9 percent of kids passed the two tests.

Demographics:

  • 34.5 percent black, 32 percent Hispanic, 28.3 percent white, 4.9 multiracial.
  • 71.9 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Carpe Diem Northwest. Only 4.5 percent of students passed the test at this charter high school.

Demographics:

  • 67.2 black, 15.6 Hispanic, 9.4 percent white, 6.3 percent multiracial, 1.6 percent Asian.
  • 84.4 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Northwest High School. The IPS school saw 4.3 percent of students pass both tests.

Demographics:

  • 58.3 percent black, 29.7 percent Hispanic, 6.7 percent white, 2.6 percent Asian, 2.4 percent multiracial.
  • 63 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Manual High School. At this charter high school, which like Howe, has been managed by the Florida-based Charter Schools USA network since it was taken over by the state in 2012, just

3.8 percent of students passed the two exams.

Demographics:

  • 55.3 white, 23.1 black, 12.2 Hispanic, 7.7 multiracial, 1.7 percent Asian.
  • Data is not available on the percent of students who qualify for meal assistance.

John Marshall High School. At this IPS school 2 percent students passed both the two tests.

Demographics:

  • 75.9 percent black, 13.1 percent Hispanic, 8.2 percent white, 2.2 percent multiracial.
  • 65.5 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Hoosier Academy-Indianapolis. At this hybrid virtual charter school, no students passed both ISTEP exams.

Demographics:

  • 72.1 percent white, 20.8 percent black, 3.8 percent multiracial, 1.7 percent Hispanic.
  • 19.6 percent of students qualify for meal assistance.

Carpe Diem Shadeland. No students passed ISTEP at this charter school, which was closed by the state in August.

Demographics:

  • 73.9 percent black, 15.9 percent white, 4.3 percent multiracial, 2.9 percent Asian, 2.9 percent Hispanic.
  • 81.1 percent percent of students qualify for meal assistance.