Latest IREAD scores show slight gains, but 14K third graders still behind

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Foundational reading competency among Indiana’s third graders improved slightly from last year, according to new standardized test results released Wednesday. But overall IREAD performance is still low, with roughly one in five test takers struggling to read.

Data from the Indiana Department of Education shows 82.5% out of the roughly 82,000 third graders at public and private schools in Indiana passed the 2024 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination, also called the IREAD test. Tests were administered statewide this spring and summer.

Public school students passed at a rate of 81.5%, compared to 92.5% of students attending private schools.

The results ticked up from the last academic year, when 81.9% of students’ scores indicated reading mastery. The state education department’s goal is that 95% of students in third grade can read proficiently by 2027.

As of this spring, 277 elementary schools have reached that goal—an increase from 242 schools a year ago. IDOE officials noted 20% of participating Indiana elementary schools received a proficiency rate of 95% or higher.

“Ensuring Hoosier students are able to read is key to not only the future of Indiana, but to the individual success of every child,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a statement. “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.”

Test score breakdown

The latest results indicate Indiana’s younger students also still lag pre-pandemic reading fluency.

Reading scores were on the decline even before the pandemic, however. The Hoosier literacy rate has seen a significant drop from Indiana’s high of 91.4% in 2012-13.

In total, about 14,300 Hoosier third grade students—more than 17% of those in the state—will need additional support to meet grade-level reading standards, according to state officials. A student who does not pass the IREAD-3 test typically must receive remediation, or risk being retained in third grade.

The IREAD-3 scores roll in as the state shifts its literacy instruction to implement the science of reading as part of an effort to improve students’ reading skills.

The phonics-based literacy approach incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Education experts say it gives students the skills to “decode” any word they don’t recognize.

During the 2024 session, state lawmakers additionally approved a separate requirement for schools to administer the statewide IREAD test in second grade—a year earlier than current requirements. Local educators must direct new, targeted support to at-risk students and those struggling to pass the literacy exam.

But if, after three tries, a third grader can’t meet the IREAD standard, legislators want school districts to hold them back.

Those changes take effect in the upcoming 2024-25 school year.

IDOE officials optimistic

State leaders touted that the 2024 proficiency rates for students increased 0.6 percentage points, marking the largest single-year increase since the assessment was launched in 2013.

“What we’re looking at right here is an outstanding thing,” said Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “It’s unbelievably exciting because it moved the needle significantly more.”

IDOE officials boasted, too, that literacy rates for Black students, students in special education, and students receiving free/reduced price meals have increased for three consecutive years. However, Hispanic students and English learners both saw decreases in literacy rates of 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points each this year, respectively.

Even so, the pass rate for Black and Hispanic groups was 68.6%—nearly 14 percentage points lower than the state average. White students continue to pass at a higher rate of 88.3%, according to the latest numbers.

Jenner emphasized that educators already trained in the science of reading through the state’s literacy cadre program helped students in their schools to earn higher scores on IREAD—some schools in the program jumped more than 20 percentage points on the assessment, according to IDOE. About 75% of eligible schools have already opted into the cadre.

Students at participating schools passed the standardized exam with an 82% rate in 2024—up from 54% in 2021.

Jenner said expanding the test to younger students has also helped.  About 78% of schools administered IREAD to second grade students in 2024, a jump from just 38% of schools that participated the year before.

“Allowing that to be taken in grade two was in many respects, a big bet for us as a board, because it’s another assessment,” Jenner said. “We allowed it to be opt-in. We saw the numbers grow with schools who opted in.”

“You can see that 97% of our second graders are on-track passing, and obviously our schools and our teachers are providing interventions to those students who are at risk,” Jenner continued, adding that 56% of all second graders who took IREAD in 2024 already earned passing scores. “What an opportunity we have to turn that corner even more and get a higher percentage of students who are at-risk to passing.”