IREAD results show improvement for Indiana schools. See how your school did

Indiana’s early literacy efforts continue to show promising results as the latest statewide scores, released Wednesday, reflect the largest single-year increase since the test was first given in 2013.

The 2024 IREAD testing found that 82.5% of Indiana’s third graders, or around 67,500 students, were proficient readers, a 0.6 percentage-point increase from last year’s results.

Despite the improvement, scores are still not back to prepandemic levels — 87.3% tested as proficient in 2019 — showing that student learning recovery continues to be a slow-moving process.

Three straight years of continued improvement, though, is a better trendline than the the six years before the start of the pandemic, when the state’s literacy scores were continuously dropping.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner attributes the ongoing increase in proficiency to historic levels of spending on early literacy , new professional development opportunities for teachers, tutoring and a change in curriculum requirements.

“Our collective hard work is paying off, yet there is still more to be done,” Jenner said in a statement. “Let’s continue to work together and continue this positive momentum for Indiana and most importantly, our students.”

Black and special education students see growth

Some subgroups saw even more significant single-year increases. Black students saw a 3.2 percentage point increase from last year, and special education students saw a 2.2 percentage point increase from last year. Students who qualify for free and reduced lunch also saw a 1.8 percentage point increase from last year’s scores.

However, Hispanic students and English language learners both saw decreases in their literacy rates at 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

2024 proficiency rates for student subgroups:

• American Indian students: 79.9%
• Asian students: 86.3%
• Black students: 68.6%
• Hispanic students: 68.6%
• Multiracial students: 83%
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students: 73%
• White students: 88.3%
• Free/reduced-price meals students: 76%
• Paid meals students: 88.5%
• Special education students: 57.1%
• English-language learners: 63.6%

The exam is administered in the spring but students can retest in the summer. Wednesday’s results are reflective of the best spring and summer results for third graders and also encompass the second graders who have already passed the IREAD exam in the 2022-23 school year.

The stakes will be higher for students in third grade this year, as a new law increases the likelihood that they will be held back if they do not pass IREAD and do not meet certain exceptions.

More on new literacy law: Could lawmakers' solution to the reading crisis mean your kid is held back? What to know

Teacher training yields results

This year also marked the third year of schools opting in to give IREAD to their second graders, and a little over 1,000 schools participated.

Starting this school year, all schools will be required to administer IREAD in the second grade, which will allow teachers to catch students who may need more support earlier on rather than waiting until the end of the third grade to catch struggling readers.

Along with those efforts, the state is also in the process of creating a universal screen for K-2 students to identify problems earlier. That screen is expected to be available for schools by February.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IREAD results show improvement for Indiana schools. See how your school did