With the Iowa State Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) looming, the Indianola Community School District is preparing not only for their students to take the test, but for the district to be able to use the information to better their curriculum.

Superintendent Art Sathoff tells KNIA News the assessment will have several new features, and will be not be able to be easily rehearsed.

“There is not only a reading portion but a writing element on this test. I think there is going to be a good deal more of rigor and higher level thinking involved with the test, and with the new test we won’t have that baseline data so there is kind of a reset from that. Schools rely on the assessment data and this is a whole new ballgame, so I think a lot of schools are going to have a lot of adjustments this spring. “

The assessment will take place this spring, with 3rd-11th grade students taking math and language arts, and 5th, 8th, and 10th grade students assessed in science.