459,000. The number of Indiana students who are at, or below, a third grade reading level. 459,000. Just under half of all children who attend Indiana schools. 459,000. The students who were not failed by their own inabilities or reluctance, but by the same system that told them “reading is power.”
The IREAD-3, a 40-question, 72-minute exam for third graders, was first administered in March of 2012. For just over a decade, the number of students who pass it has been steadily declining. While the data about how many students participated in the IREAD-3 is available to the public dating back to its release, the information about pass rates leaves a gap in the easily accessible data. Not mentioned on the large bar graph, but rather in the Indiana Department of Education’s highlights, masquerading is 2024’s shiny 59% “passed, or on track,” statistic. Yet, in a table, on the very same page of that document, is the other 41%. Labeled as “at risk,” the number of students who don’t meet literacy expectations has increased 3% since the results gathered in 2023. As the 2025 IREAD-3 looms ahead, it is projected that one out of every two Indiana students will fall into the “at risk” category.
As Indiana schools find themselves in one of the greatest crises of the past decade, the spotlight falls on third graders, and their ability to answer 40 questions. This is used as one of the sole measurements of student literacy in the state. The results were made public, highlighting slight improvements over the past four years, but the results show a general downward trend. It’s only reasonable to wonder what these charts would look like for other grades. But these questions are left unanswered. The top result in Google for “Indiana high school literacy rates” is the IREAD-3 results– and the next two links are more of the same. The third grade is made to bear the weight of 1.12 million, due in part to a financial incentive.
On December 15th, 2023, the IDoE sent a memo to school corporations and charter school leaders of Indiana regarding the Early Literacy Achievement Grant. This stated that if the statewide goal of a 95% pass rate of the IREAD-3 was completed, the IDoE would “…award[ ] funds to Indiana public school corporations and charter schools.” Specifically, $10 million dollars had been allocated to the Early Literacy Achievement Grant in attempts to award “teachers, instructional coaches, and other school staff responsible for the implementation and delivery of literacy and reading instruction through grade three.” Note, particularly, that the language used only covers improvement for IREAD-3 pass rates, and not for a true measure of improvement in literacy.
The search for a more accurate representation of Indiana literacy becomes more and more necessary with each coming year. The ability to read and write has never been pass-fail, and it should not be measured as such. Data could be gathered from the ILEARN 3-8, a similar test taken by elementary and middle school students, as well as from the Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) portion of the SAT. As a student grows, so will their English and language arts abilities– following the progression of their scores throughout the rest of their education could fill the gap. With a more precise knowledge of student growth, the development of curriculums and learning plans can be further improved. The key to building literacy rates is by understanding them. “Reading is power”– but it must first be harnessed.
