Most local school corporations were at state average or above on the 2023-24 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment.
According to results released this past week, Wa-Nee Community Schools had 88.9% of its third-grade students pass the IREAD test.
Wawasee Community Schools has 90.5% of its students pass, while Warsaw Community Schools had 82.2% of students pass.
Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation had 81.1% of its students pass, with Whitko Community School Corporation having a pass rate of 79.2%.
Triton School Corporation had 85.3% of its students pass the IREAD test, and Manchester Community Schools had 84.1% pass.
Statewide, the results show third-graders had the largest single-year increase since the assessment was launched in 2013, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Education.
"Ensuring Hoosier students are able to read is key to not only the future of Indiana, but to the individual success of every child," said Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. "The historic literacy investments we have made over the past several years are beginning to show return on investment, which is a testament to the hard work of teachers, families and students in every corner of our state. Let's keep this positive momentum going.”
Statewide, results reveal that more than 67,000 Indiana third-grade students – or 82.5% – demonstrated proficient reading skills on the assessment. This is an improvement of 0.6 percentage points over results for the 2022-23 school year, which is the highest year-over-year increase since the launch of IREAD.
“When it comes to supporting every child to reach their full potential, the single-most important thing we can do is help them learn to read,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana secretary of education. “Over the past three years, Indiana has made historic investments in ensuring educators and families have the tools and resources they need to best support our students, and today, we are seeing positive results from this all-hands-on-deck approach. Our collective hard work is paying off, yet there is still more to be done. Let’s continue to work together and continue this positive momentum for Indiana and most importantly, our students.”
For the third year, schools had an opportunity to proactively administer the IREAD assessment to their second grade students at no cost – a tactic that has already proven successful at providing educators and families with an early On Track indicator to determine if students will master foundational reading skills by the end of grade three, the release states. In total, 1,076 elementary schools opted in to administer IREAD to their second-grade students in 2024, an increase from 771 in 2023. Beginning with the current school year, all second-grade students will participate in IREAD.
Of the second-grade students who participated in 2024, 59% either passed the assessment or are on track to pass by the end of third grade. Nearly 97% of second-graders who achieved On Track in 2023 passed the assessment in 2024.
The ability to identify students who need additional, targeted support as early as possible, is just one benefit of administering IREAD at grade two, according to the release. With the help of this early indicator, educators were able to identify students needing interventions to master foundational reading skills, allowing 56% of second-graders who were identified as at-risk in 2023 to pass IREAD in 2024.
Another tactical solution showing early signs of success is the Indiana Literacy Cadre. The Indiana Literacy Cadre is a partnership between the state of Indiana, the University of Indianapolis Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) and Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools, which provides early elementary teachers with embedded instructional coaching and support aligned with science of reading.
Science of reading is an evidence-based body of research that uses phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension to teach students to read. Schools that opted in to receive this comprehensive support had a 2.5 percentage point increase in students passing IREAD, compared to a 0.2 percentage point increase for schools that did not opt in to the Literacy Cadre.
The Indiana Literacy Cadre is one of several tactical solutions made possible through the state’s largest-ever financial investment in literacy, which was announced in August 2022. Under the leadership of Holcomb, Indiana partnered with Lilly Endowment Inc. to invest up to $111 million to support early literacy development. This investment was recently expanded by the Indiana General Assembly during the 2023 legislative session, resulting in a combined total investment of $170 million.