Indiana sees historic jump in third grade reading scores; retention data still pending

By Casey Smith - August 13, 2025

Indiana’s latest reading assessment scores showed the largest year-to-year improvement since the state began IREAD testing in 2013, rising nearly five percentage points from last year, according to new results released Wednesday.

The new data revealed that 87.3% of third graders — about 73,500 out of more than 84,000 students statewide — demonstrated proficient reading skills in 2024-25. That’s roughly 6,000 more proficient readers than a year ago and the highest rate since before the pandemic.

The scores were presented by Indiana Department of Education officials at the August State Board of Education meeting in Indianapolis.

“What’s exciting in Indiana right now is the momentum across the board … it takes an army of people to make this happen, and … our real role as a board is to just get the brick walls out of the way as much as possible so that we can really best impact kids,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner told the education board. 

In a press release, Jenner added: “This is a time for celebration, and it is also a time to double-down on our commitment to helping even more students learn to read. The data is clear – what we are doing is working – so let’s keep at it, ensuring a brighter future for Hoosier students.”

Gov. Mike Braun called the results “another example of how we are leading the nation in education,” adding that “helping every Hoosier to live out their American dream starts with the ability to read.”

Jenner and other state officials emphasized that the record jump follows a multiyear effort to reverse pandemic-era declines, anchored by up to $170 million in state and Lilly Endowment Inc. funding to expand teacher training in the “science of reading,” boost early screening and target interventions for struggling readers.

By 2027, state officials want 95% of third graders to demonstrate reading proficiency.

This year, more than 10,000 students did not pass the IREAD but good cause exemptions are still being processed so it is not yet known how many students will be held back under a stricter new law.

Gains across all students groups

For the first time, scores on the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination assessment, or IREAD, improved for every student group measured, according to IDOE.

Black students saw a 7.5 percentage point increase from last year, bringing their total gain since 2021 to 14.1 points. Students in special education also improved by 7.5 points year-over-year and are up 12.2 points from 2021. 

Among students receiving free or reduced-price meals, proficiency climbed 6.6 points from last year and 10 points over four years.

Hispanic students — whose proficiency dropped in 2024 — improved by 7.5 points in 2025. English learners, whose results had been largely flat for three years, posted a 7.2 point increase.

“If you look at the English learner population … we were going down and then hit a plateau, which was very concerning,” Jenner said. “So this going back up, I think, is especially promising … the plateau is no longer. We’re moving up.”

She also highlighted that 456 schools across Indiana hit a 95% or higher IREAD proficiency rate this year — 179 more than last year. Statewide, more than a third of all elementary schools hit the goal for IREAD passage.

“We continue to move the needle with schools year to year,” Jenner said.

Board members praised the gains, too. 

“Like, literally scream this from the rooftops,” said board member B.J. Watts. “I’ve never seen numbers like this. … Take a minute to celebrate this.”

Earlier testing, more interventions

The pass rate includes students who took and passed the IREAD a year early, during second grade. Under a new policy in effect this year, all second graders took the assessment, giving them up to five opportunities to pass before fourth grade.

In years prior, schools could opt-in to second grade testing.

Roughly 81,800 second graders participated in IREAD testing this year, compared to just under 69,000 in 2024 and fewer than 46,000 in 2023.

During the most recent academic year, 68% of second graders either passed or were considered “on track” to pass by the end of third grade.

The state’s data showed that 96% of second graders who were “on track” last year passed in third grade this year, while more than 65% of those identified as “at risk” in 2024 met the standard in 2025.

“We’ve heard loud and clear from teachers, but also from parents and families who … years ago, they’d get to third grade and they’d be like, ‘I thought my child could read. What do you mean they can’t read?’” Jenner said. “Now … it opens a really honest conversation that we have to have with our partners, our parents and families.”

The annual IREAD pass rate measures one year’s third grade class, counting both those who passed the test in third grade and those who passed it early, as second graders.

Students are given up to five total attempts at the assessment before fourth grade — two in second grade, and three more in third.

Retention numbers still to come

While the 2024-25 IREAD results show sharp gains, the number of students who will be held back under Indiana’s reading retention law won’t be known until after the state’s Oct. 1 school enrollment “count day.” 

That’s when IDOE will finalize which third graders failed to pass the exam and did not qualify for one of several “good cause exemptions” permitted by state law.

In 2023, 13,855 third graders did not pass IREAD, according to IDOE data. Of those, 7,528 received good cause exemptions; 6,327 did not. Even so, fewer than 500 students were retained and required to repeat third grade.

Indiana’s new third-grade reading retention law took effect for the 2024-2025 school year, meaning more students are expected to be held back.

Under the statute, a student who would otherwise be retained in third grade is allowed to advance to fourth grade if they meet one of the following criteria:

• Previously retained in grade three for one school year;

• Have an intellectual disability or an IEP indicating retention is inappropriate, with promotion approved by the student’s case conference committee;

• Are an English learner with fewer than two years of English instruction, with promotion recommended by a parent-teacher-administrator committee based on research-based instructional practices;

• Earned a proficient or above proficient score in grade three math on the statewide summative assessment; or

• Have received at least two years of intensive reading intervention and were retained more than once in kindergarten through second grade.

Retention requirements were strengthened in 2024 as part of Indiana’s push to reach 95% third grade reading proficiency by 2027. 

Students who do not pass in third grade must receive additional reading instruction aligned with the science of reading and retest each spring and summer until they either pass or are promoted to seventh grade, even if they advance to the next grade under a good cause exemption.

More work ahead

The online, untimed, multiple-choice IREAD test gauges student progress on foundational reading skills — like phonics and vocabulary — as well as silent reading and comprehension, according to IDOE. 

The test is intended to help identify students who need additional support, and to determine if younger students — who take the exam in second grade or before — will be able to master reading skills by the end of third grade. 

During the meeting, Jenner cautioned that not all literacy metrics are trending upward.

While elementary English/language arts scores have risen alongside math, she noted that middle school ELA remains “the only needle we have not moved in the state of Indiana.” 

Last month’s ILEARN results, which measure ELA and math proficiency for grades 3-8, showed continued gains in math but little movement in reading. 

Statewide, 42.1% of students scored proficient in math — up more than five percentage points since 2021 — while 40.6% reached proficiency in ELA, essentially unchanged from the prior year. About 31.2% of students passed both subjects.

“Our English language art scores moved up in our elementary grades, but they did not move up — they went down — in our middle school grades,” Jenner told the board.

“I flag that because we believe wholeheartedly that we’ve solved multiple other challenges, and we’re up for the challenge there,” she continued. “There’s not a state we can copy and paste from who’s figured it out. So, you’re going to hear more about that.”

Read this article on the Indiana Capital Chronicle website here.