Indiana citizens on both sides of the aisle were upset when they learned that the state's new standardized test will take 12-hours, says Republican strategist and Indiana native Pete Seat.
"Republicans, Democrats and independents appointed by the governor to help implement education policy in this state and social media was on fire when the news came out that this test was going to be a little over 12-hours because of new state standards and federal standards all being put in there," Seat, of Hathaway Strategies, told Ed Berliner on "MidPoint" on
Newsmax TV Monday.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence was also angry, Seat said, which is "a governor we don't see [angry] very often, tried to get in there and fix it as quickly as he could."
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Pence called for an emergency review of the ISTEP exam, and he has asked Indiana's Superintendent Glenda Ritz to cut the test in half. However, students are supposed to begin taking the test as early as Feb. 25,
The Indianapolis Star reported.
The longer test is partially the result of the Republican governor wanting the state to adopt more rigid standards, according to reports.
"Common Core is not happening in Indiana and that's part of what has taken place," Seat said.
"Governor Mike Pence pulled Indiana out of the Common Core standards and said that he wanted state standards that exceeded those and that were the highest standards in the country," he explained.
"As a result, it required some extra testing time, at least the Department of Education is telling us that," he added.
Part of the reason test designers are saying the test is longer is "they wanted to give students more time to answer the questions.
At this point, the Republican strategist says but there are "two national consultants that the governor has brought in to this to assess what can be taken out, what can be changed and improved to reduce the testing time."
The superintendent also called for the Indiana Board of Education to hold an emergency meeting.
"We're about a month away from these tests being administered and parents, teachers and administrators around us are watching very closely," he added.
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