The Indiana Department of Education this morning released the statewide results from the ISTEP tests that students took in the spring.

The results show that the Duneland Schools and nearly all other Porter County schools exceeded the state averages in each subject matter on an overall, corporation-wide basis.

The percentage of Duneland students who passed the English/Language Arts portion of the test was 86.2, compared to the state average of 78 percent. The percentage of Duneland students who passed the math portion of the test was 88 percent, compared to the state average of 79 percent.

The percentage of fourrth and sixth graders in Duneland passing the science portion of the test was 82.2 percent, compared with the state average of 69 percent. The percentage of Duneland fifth and seventh graders who passed the Social Studies component was 78.9 percent, compared with the state average of 67 percent.

This is the second year in a row that the ISTEP standardized tests were given to Indiana students in the spring, instead of the fall. The change was intended to test the students on subject matter they learned in the grade level they were about to complete, instead of waiting until after summer break.

The following are the overall percentages of students in each Porter County school corporation who passed the ISTEP tests. The “passing” percentages include those who scored in the pass-plus category, which represents the highest passing marks in each subject matter. The cut scores for pass-plus vary at each grade level and subject matter. For example, a third grader passed the English test with a score of 417, but to achieve the pass-plus designation, the student had to have a score of at least 521.

State passing average: 78%

Boone: 89.6% (23.1% pass-plus)

Duneland: 86.2% (21.9% pass-plus)

East Porter: 91.4% (26.7% pass-plus)

Porter Twp: 86.1% (21.4% pass-plus)

Union: 88.1% (22.9% pass-plus)

Portage: 83.6% (14.1% pass-plus)

Valparaiso: 90.6% (27.1% pass-plus)

State average: 79%

Boone: 90% (26.3% pass-plus)

Duneland: 88% (29.2% pass-plus)

East Porter: 91.2% (31.9% pass-plus)

Porter Twp: 87.5% (29.4% pass-plus)

Union: 89.1% (28.9% pass-plus)

Portage: 86.3% (24.7% pass-plus)

Valparaiso: 89.7% (35.7% pass-plus)

The science component of ISTEP was taken by fourth and sixth graders only. The state average for passing was 69%.

Boone: 82.4% (34.1% pass-plus)

Duneland: 82.2% (32.6% pass-plus)

East Porter: 89.6% (44.2% pass-plus)

Porter Twp: 80.3% (30% pass-plus)

Union: 83.9% (27.9% pass-plus)

Portage: 67.2% (16% pass-plus)

Valparaiso: 88.3% (41.1% pass-plus)

The Social Studies component of ISTEP was taken by fifth and seventh graders only. The state average for passing was 67%.

Boone: 77.6% (25.5% pass-plus)

Duneland: 78.9% (34% pass-plus)

East Porter: 89.1% (39.1% pass-plus)

Porter Twp: 79.9% (36.2% pass-plus)

Union: 79.6% (34.1% pass-plus)

Portage: 69.8% (16% pass-plus)

Valparaiso: 85.7% (42.9% pass-plus)