Teachers, Lawmakers React To Latest ILEARN Results

Source: April Story / Getty

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — ILEARN scores overall were better for most Indiana students in 2024, but teachers and other experts on education say that students are still behind where they need to be.

Data from the 2024 ILEARN tests released this week showed a slight drop in language arts scores from the previous year. But, math and scores improved slightly. However, ILEARN data shows roughly 60-percent of students, on average, still do not perform at grade level in either subject.

Cheyenne Mappes has taught fourth and fifth grade in Morgan County for nearly 20 years and tells WISH-TV that COVID is still to blame for learning losses from this generation of elementary school students.

“That’s a pretty pivotal year (2020) when we’re talking about learning to read,” Mappes said. “And so when they’re taking standardized tests now, it still shows that there’s that big learning gap that they’re still trying to close.”

State Rep. Ed Delaney (D-Indianapolis), who leads Democrats in the Indiana House, was not surprised by the ILEARN numbers and blamed Republicans in the state legislature for not dedicating enough money to public schools.

“We’re sending a smaller percentage of our kids to college and this is one of the reasons why,” Delaney said. “Our legislature is completely distracted from the realities of education.”

Mappes believes the problem is a lack of scope. She believes ILEARN should not be the only metric the state lives and dies by when it comes to gauging the performance of students. One of the other areas that needs to be focused on, she says, is professional development for teachers.

“As we continue to learn and we research and we find the best methods to teach students, we’re going to be able to meet their needs more efficiently, and as we do, those test scores are going to reflect that,” Mappes said.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, most schools will switch to giving three smaller tests throughout the year to gauge students’ progress. All schools in Indiana will use this model beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. She said she hopes those tests give a better view of what students need.

The post Teachers, Lawmakers React To Latest ILEARN Results appeared first on WIBC 93.1 FM .