The wait is finally over. The Indiana Department of Education just finalized a new system for assigning A-F letter grades to schools across the state.

The quick and dirty of it is that each student gets an overall grade based on their state test scores. But no longer is that the sole measure. A student’s final grade also takes things like attendance, academic growth, and other factors into consideration. Then, the aggregate of all students’ grades becomes a school’s overall grade from 0 to 100.

For the long and dirty, check out the IDOE’s comprehensive slide show on the final accountability system. And for something informative but not as long as that slideshow, read on.

When Will Schools Receive Their First Letter Grade?

The last time Indiana schools received a letter grade was 2018.

The IDOE indicated schools will receive their new grades in December this year with a bit of a soft launch. It’ll initially be easier to earn an A grade in the first year under this system, with future years hewing to a more traditional grading scale (where 80-89 is a B, 90-100 is an A, etc.).

I think we are better off for having a system like this than not. But does it have teeth? In Indianapolis, they might be sharp, albeit in a tangential way. I’ll get to that next. More broadly, I don’t think the days of state intervention or takeover are coming back. For now, this primarily brings a new visibility to families, policymakers, and education advocates as to how individual schools (and districts) are doing.

Meanwhile, Indiana has proposed to use this new system as “the sole measure of accountability in its request for federal flexibility” around the spending of its federal education dollars, per Chalkbeat’s reporting. Whether or not that request is approved? We ought to know soon given it was submitted back in October 2025 and the feds have 120 days to issue a response.

Will This Framework Influence the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation?

What I’m most interested in is how this statewide framework might inform the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation’s (IPEC) shared accountability framework. The new body is slated to develop this accountability framework by November of this year with implementation starting in the 2028-29 school year.

IPEC’s framework could hew closely to the statewide system that just got finalized. The IDOE spent months reinventing and trying to improve upon the previous wheel. Appointed board members may think, “No reason to reinvent the wheel a second time.” They could also draw closely on the accountability system used by the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation for the charter schools it authorizes.

Regardless of the direct influences, IPEC’s framework will be more shark than guppy as the system will inform school closures.

Both Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and charter school authorizers will be tasked with implementing the framework. I don’t know what bar the IPEC will set but I can imagine a world where schools that receive an F multiple years in a row on the IDOE framework will be in danger of closing. Perhaps even an initial F will be enough to put schools up for closure given schools’ historical performance, even in the absence of an official letter grade, isn’t exactly top secret.

Then too, schools with middling or average letter grades may find their feet in the fire if their facility is underutilized (meaning they serve less students than they ought to given the size of their building). For now, it’s all speculation. But IPEC members will have to move fast once they’re appointed at the end of this month.

Does This Mean We’re Headed for School Closures in Indianapolis?

Almost certainly, perhaps even before the IPEC’s framework goes into place even. I know that’s blunt. But I think it’s an honest read of the situation. Because closures, within IPS especially, are likely coming with or without a shared accountability framework.

While the disruption closures bring is never a good thing in its own right, I think a stronger shared accountability system is a good thing for Indianapolis’ public education system. If closures are coming, as I think they are, I’d much rather they be done against the backdrop of a shared accountability framework than not as we move forward.

Indeed, I think IPEC writ large, and this accountability system IPEC develops this year, can play a role in creating long-term stability, something both traditional public school advocates and charter school advocates say they want. Still, the road to get there might be bumpy.

I’ve heard many a public school advocate say Indianapolis has too many schools. They often mean we just have too many public charter schools.

But I tend to agree. Given the number of students attending school in Center Township, we do have too many schools. We have too many IPS schools. And we have too many charter schools. We have an opportunity to prioritize quality over quantity in Indianapolis under a shared framework.

I’m clear-eyed about the negative impact of school closures. Closure should be a last resort. At the same time, the system in its current state is unsustainable.

Closures are coming. There’s a way to handle it to minimize the impact on families and ensure that students end up benefitting in the long run. That’s not a given. But it is one of IPEC’s main responsibilities. It’s up to us to hold them accountable for getting this right on behalf of Indianapolis students.