Excuse the elementary title. But if you’re looking for a deep dive into 2024 IREAD results, pull up a chair. You’re in the right place.

What is IREAD?

IREAD is Indiana’s annual test “to measure foundational reading skills based on Indiana Academic Standards through grade three.” Students take it each spring. The assessment is broken into two parts. Part one covers basic reading skills, like phonics and vocab. Part two involves needing to silently read and comprehend nonfiction and literary texts.

Basically, students who pass are deemed proficient readers (in terms of what literacy skills a third grader ought to have).

2024 Statewide IREAD Results

For the 2023-24 school year, 82.5% of third graders passed IREAD-3. That’s a slight tick up from the 81.9% who passed in 2023. While any increase is good, we’re still trending below pre-pandemic passing rates on IREAD (just like we are for ILEARN, which, if you missed it, coverage here). Back in 2019, 87.3% of third graders passed.

Interestingly, passing rates on IREAD-3 were declining even before the pandemic hit. Go back slightly farther than 2019 and the passing rate exceeded 90% statewide. The pandemic just precipitated a sharper decline that we have yet to recover from. That’s likely why IDOE has put such a heavy focus on literacy instruction support the past few years.

Today’s initial table rounds up statewide passing rates broken out by different student groups.

	Overall pass rate	Change from 2023 to 2024	Change from 2021 to 2024
All students	82.5%	+0.6	+1.3
White students	88.3%	+0.3	+0.8
Black students	65.6%	+3	+6.6
Hispanic students	68.6%	-0.3	0
Low-income students	76%	+1.8	+3.4
English language learners	63.6%	-0.4	-8.6

One note about this table. Looking at data across student groups is important. However, IREAD is taken by a much smaller group of students. When there are fewer than 10 students in a subgroup who take the test at a given school, the results are protected and not included in overall totals like this. In Indiana, groups like Hispanic students, English Language Learners, and low-income students often have protected data, especially in regions outside of Indianapolis’ Center Township. So, results need to be taken with a tiny grain of salt. Still, there’s much to consider here.

Highlights include the encouraging progress for Black students and low-income students. That growth trajectory is accelerated compared to other student groups, even if there’s still a long way to go. Still, another way to consider the reality of our Black student passing rate is to say that 3 in 10 Black students are not proficient readers by the end of third grade. In a society where the bar should be set at full literacy, we’re some distance away even if we might celebrate some improvement.

The lowlight? Clearly the backsliding that continues among English language learners. Their passing rates have declined every single year since the pandemic even as overall results have ticked up slightly each year for other student groups. It’s an area we ought to feel urgent about addressing.

You may have seen the IDOE laud the better results for schools in the Indiana Literacy Cadre. This group of schools increased their passing rates by an average of 2.5 percentage points. Schools not participating in the cadre only increased by 0.2 percentage points on average. Clearly, the cadre is onto something that can hopefully be spread even more widely and accelerated in future years.

Look more closely at individual schools and bright spots abound. For instance, props where props are due to Sand Creek Elementary School in Fishers for increasing their pass rate by 32.5 percentage points from 2023 to 2024, the highest jump in proficiency for any school in the state.

We’ll dive deeper into Marion County in a moment, but for now we can celebrate a couple other local schools who stand out on the statewide landscape. Indiana Math & Science Academy – North (an independent charter school) increased their pass rate by 29.4 percentage points, Pleasant Run Elementary School (part of Warren Township) increased by 21.5 percentage points, and Cold Spring School (an innovation network school) increased by 20.5 percentage points. These are all phenomenal leaps forward in just one year.

Marion County Deep Dive (Including Independent Charter Schools)

Where does Marion County stand amid the statewide results? If you’ve been with me since ILEARN, you know I love a large table packed to the gills with data. So below is a snapshot of all 11 Marion County school districts alongside independent charter schools (which I’m treating collectively as their own “district” for comparison purposes).

Note that 2021 passing rates are in parentheses to show gains/declines in the post-pandemic years.

	Overall passing rate	Black students	Hispanic students	Low-income students
Independent charter schools	70.8% (68.5%)	70.2% (70.5%)	67.3% (52.7%)	71.2% (55.3%)
Indianapolis Public Schools (including innovation network schools)	57.7% (56.3%)	53.5% (50.2%)	45.2% (46.2%)	55.3% (55.3%)
MSD Pike Township	73.4% (65.8%)	73.3% (66.5%)	62.1% (57.2%)	74.3% (63%)
MSD Washington Township	83.9% (76.8%)	81.5% (71.2%)	69.8% (60.4%)	82.5% (68.4%)
MSD Lawrence Township	64.4% (62.7%)	60.4% (58.9%)	52% (52.5%)	58.1% (56.7%)
MSD Wayne Township	65.4% (61.5%)	62.2% (63.5%)	59.2% (52.8%)	65.7% (60.5%)
School Town of Speedway	90.9% (88.4%)	78.6% (88.6%)	91.7% (83.3%)	87.9% (79.3%)
MSD Warren Township	81.7% (62.7%)	80.2% (60.9%)	75.8% (60.4%)	81.1% (60.9%)
MSD Decatur Township	75.7% (76.7%)	76% (67.6%)	68.1% (73.6%)	75.2% (74.5%)
Perry Township Schools	70.9% (71.5%)	52.9% (59.9%)	47.6% (46.2%)	69.9% (68.5%)
Beech Grove City Schools	79.5% (75.5%)	70.6% (44%)	66.7% (77.8%)	78.5% (75.5%)
Franklin Township School Corp.	86.2% (88.6%)	73.8% (76.2%)	75.3% (83.7%)	80.3% (84.7%)

Like I said, it’s a hearty table. What should we make of it all? For starters, hats off to Speedway. It’s also encouraging to see a variety of local districts improve passing rates at a much faster rate than the statewide average over time. Warren Township in particular ought to feel great about the trajectory they are on with double digit percentage point gains in every category from 2021 to 2024.

Now, the direct comparison I do want to dig into more is between independent charter schools and IPS. As it stands, the vast majority of independent charter schools operate within Center Township (IPS boundaries). A family in Center Township considering their public school choice is likely going to be selecting between an IPS school and an independent charter school.

In every student group above, independent charter schools outperform IPS schools and it’s not very close. As I’ve noted before, this is in the context of independent charter schools serving a higher percentage of students of color and low-income students than IPS does. They aren’t cherry-picking the high achievers or the rich kids as many bad-faith critiques would have it. No question independent charter schools still have room for improvement. But it’s hard to argue they aren’t a valid option for families in Center Township.

Bringing it a level down, just consider how Black students fare between the two. For the 2023-24 school year, 7 of the top 10 public schools in Center Township are independent charter schools. For Hispanic students, it’s 6 of the top 10. Some independent charter schools are even batting one thousand. Allegiant Prepatory Academy, 100% passing rate for Black students. Paramount Brookside and Indiana Math & Science Academy – North? 100% passing rate for Hispanic students.

None of this is down to independent charter schools somehow having a financial leg up on traditional public schools (in fact, they receive less per pupil funding each year than traditional public schools). It isn’t down to them nefariously magnetizing all the high achievers or cooking the books. It’s down to autonomy, innovation, and hard work. And yes, some nearby public school districts do outperform local independent charter schools. But if you live in Center Township, chances are your best option is an independent charter school. 

Retainer? I Hardly Know Her

Lastly, the elephant in the classroom. Or at least the elephant that will feel appropriately elephant-sized come next spring when this test grows a new pair of teeth. To what do I refer?

This year’s test is the final instance before Indiana’s newly-revised retention law kicks in. Starting with the current academic year, schools are required to hold back third grade students who don’t pass IREAD in spring 2024.

Some exemptions do exist (particularly related to students with disabilities and English language learners), but it’s a potentially seismic shift in our retention landscape. (We covered possible implications in-depth here.) This is especially the case for a lot of kids in Marion County districts.

The best way to avoid retention is to make sure every kid passes IREAD. Easier said than done, I know. But it’s no less than what Hoosier kids deserve.