Nearly 1 in 5 students are still struggling to read by the end of third grade in Indiana.
On Wednesday, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) released results from the 2022-23 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3) assessment. According to a news release from the IDOE, the assessment shows “that too few Indiana students have mastered foundational reading skills by the end of third grade: nearly 1 in 5 students are still struggling to read at this key milestone.”
“Up until the end of third grade, students are developing key skills to become proficient in foundational reading. Once they advance to fourth grade they must be able to apply those skills to access future learning,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana secretary of education. “Today, nearly 1 in 5 Indiana students is unable to read by the end of third grade. This is a crisis that could have a long-term negative impact on Indiana’s economy and negative repercussions throughout our society. We have no time to waste, and together, we must urgently work to improve reading outcomes for Indiana students, including supporting both current and future educators with the knowledge and tools necessary to teach our students to read using evidence-based literacy instruction, rooted in science of reading.”
Statewide, results show that more than 65,000 Indiana’s third-grade students (81.9%) demonstrated proficient reading skills on the assessment. This is a minimal improvement of 0.3 percentage points over results for the 2021-22 school year.
Indiana's third grade literacy rates have been dropping for a decade, even prior to the academic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, results remain 9.5 percentage points below the state’s highest-ever proficiency rate (91.4%) during the 2012-2013 school year.
In total, nearly 15,000 third-grade students (18.1%) will need additional support to meet grade-level reading standards. Overall, reading proficiency improved slightly for Black students, students receiving free or reduced-price meals, students in special education, as well as English learners, but declined for Hispanic students. Continued improvement for all student populations will be essential to achieving the statewide goal of 95% of students passing IREAD-3 by 2027, the release states. Today, 242 Indiana elementary schools have achieved this 95% goal, an increase of 32 elementary schools over 2022.
Local results, according to the news release, are as follows (proficiency rates reflect best spring/summer result of first-time third-grade cohort, including previous year second-grade proficient results):
Manchester - 93.1%
Manchester School Corporation had 94 out of 101 third-graders demonstrate proficient reading skills on the IREAD-3.
Manchester Elementary - 93.1% (94 of 101 students)
Tippecanoe Valley - 83.9%
Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation had 99 of 118 third-graders demonstrate proficient reading skills on the IREAD-3, or 83.9%.
Akron Elementary - 82.8% (48 of 58 students)
Mentone Elementary - 85.0% (51 of 60 students)
Triton - 91%
Triton Schools had 61 of 67 students demonstrate proficient reading skills on the IREAD-3, or 91%.
Triton Elementary - 91.0% (61 of 67 students)
Warsaw - 81.9%
Warsaw Community School Corporation had 420 out of 513 students demonstrate proficient reading skills on the IREAD-3, or 81.9%.
Claypool Elementary - 71.4% (35 of 49 students)
Eisenhower Elementary - 90.6% (58 of 64 students)
Harrison Elementary - 77.6% (52 of 67 students)
Leesburg Elementary - 83.5% (71 of 85 students)
Jefferson Elementary - 74.2% (49 of 66 students)
Lincoln Elementary - 83.8% (57 of 68 students)
Madison Elementary - 82.8% (48 of 58 students)
Washington Elementary - 89.3% (50 of 56 students)
Wawasee - 87%
Wawasee School Corporation had a percent passing rate of 87% with 174 out of 200 students demonstrate proficient reading skills on the IREAD-3.
North Webster Elementary - 95.9% (71 of 74 students)
Milford Elementary - 74.5% (35 of 47 students)
Syracuse Elementary - 86.1% (68 of 79 students)
Whitko - 80.9%
Whitko School Corporation had 76 of 94 students pass the IREAD-3, or 80.9%.
Pierceton Elementary - 74.0% (37 of 50 students)
South Whitley Elementary - 88.6% (39 of 44 students)
Non-Public Schools
Lakeland Christian Academy - 85.0% (17 of 20 students)
Sacred Heart School - 96.3% (26 of 27 students).