The state awarded a three-year, $43.4 million contract to a nonprofit assessment and research company Monday to design the replacement of the ISTEP exam.

The Indiana Department of Education announced the Washington, D.C.-based company was chosen among proposals from five vendors.

The company will create the new I-LEARN exam for students in grades three through eight and a new version of the third-grade reading test called I-Read.

The new tests will be given during the 2018-2019 school year.

The I-LEARN will be a computer adaptive test for English language arts and mathematics for grades three through eight.

That means the test will be completely online. The test questions will change
depending on whether a student gets the current question right or wrong.

This better assesses a student’s abilities, state officials says.