Indiana IREAD-3 scores show student improvement, but 20% of students are still not proficient in reading
Dear neighbor,
Yesterday (Aug. 14), the State Board of Education (SBOE) held a meeting to review the 2023-2024 IREAD-3 results. Data shows that our students' proficiency rate is trending upward for the fourth year in a row, marking a notable increase since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, Indiana's literacy rates had declined each year, except for the period between 2014 to 2015.
While the rise in student scores is tremendous news for our state, we must also acknowledge that reading competency among Indiana's third graders is still below an acceptable level. According to the SBOE, 82.5 percent of Indiana's third-grade students passed IREAD-3 this year. In other words, one in five students is still unable to read at a proficient level.
This past session, I voted against Senate Enrolled Act 1, a Republican-led piece of legislation which requires teachers to undergo further training and adopt a traditional "science of reading curriculum."
However, a concerning portion of this law requires mandatory retention for students that do not pass on their third attempt. Holding back thousands of third-graders adds stress to our already over-exhausted education system, and is counterproductive in helping these students build their reading capabilities.
During the Aug. 14 meeting, the SBOE emphasized the success of the state's literacy cadre program, stating that schools involved saw a dramatic increase in their testing scores. The program aims to achieve a 95 percent student IREAD-3 pass rate by 2027.
While the seeming success of these indicatives is a good thing, it doesn’t get to core of the issue. The Republican majority have failed to address the root causes in this achievement gap that have been well known for decades. While test scores have never been uniform across the state, there has always been a reliable predictor of student performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, for too many students, that predictor is zip code.
If Republicans were serious about giving Indiana students the best chance possible at future success, they would work to dismantle the current school funding system. Under the current funding structure, schools in affluent areas have ample resources while schools located in less prosperous areas languish without the essentials.
A student being born in a zip code with lower property values should not have to suffer an inferior education simply due to an accident of geography and the continued apathy of those in power.
While it is important to celebrate students' progress and the educators who helped them along the way, we need to remain cognizant of our responsibility to improve student learning. We must support all of our schools, providing them with the proper funding and resources they need to successfully aid their students.
In service,
Renee Pack, District 92 State Representative
