Indiana education officials released 2026 test scores Tuesday for the state’s third-grade literacy exam and elementary and middle school math and English language arts test.
The results will be used for the first time in the state’s new formula for grading schools with A-to-F letter grades, after a five-year pause due to the revamping of academic standards and the pandemic.
The state’s youngest readers continue to improve for the fifth consecutive year in a row on IREAD but did not see as big of gains as last year’s historic jump.
How elementary and middle school students are improving when it comes to ILEARN is harder to know this year since the state has had to establish new benchmarks for its scores due to the test’s format changing in recent years, along with 2022 legislation that required streamlining of K-12 academic standards.
Due to this change, this year’s ILEARN scores can’t be compared to earlier years, said Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner. However, the 2026 statewide scores are not too far off from the previous year
Overall, around 42.7% of students were proficient in math, while 42% of students were proficient in ELA. If comparing to last year’s scores, that would mean both saw an increase, with ELA seeing the biggest by about two percentage points.
ILEARN measures English language arts, science, social studies and mathematics skills for students in grades three through eight.
IREAD results for 2026
Last year’s scores for the state’s third-grade reading exam jumped to the highest it had been since before the pandemic with just over 87% of third graders reading proficiently.
This year, that score increased by 1.5 percentage points, now topping out at 88.7% of third graders passing the exam. Yet, that means 9,194 students are still not reading proficiently by the end of third grade.
State officials however remarked how IREAD scores this year have now surpassed scores from 2018-19, when proficiency rates were at 87.3%, before statewide scores dropped off during the pandemic.
“Our reading scores haven’t just recovered from the pandemic—they’ve surged,” said Gov. Mike Braun. “Five consecutive years of literacy gains show what’s possible when we stay focused on getting every Hoosier child on the path to success.”
Those results include all of the second graders who passed the exam while in the second grade. Students have a total of five opportunities to pass IREAD before moving on to the fourth grade.
The test is taken in person and electronically.
While the IREAD scores have continued to improve over the past six years since the state saw a severe drop in proficiency during the pandemic, the overall proficiency score has still not reached the state’s all-time high seen in 2013 at 91.4% proficiency.
The literacy rates increased for almost every student racial demographic from last year except for American Indian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander student populations.
Other student populations like English Language Learners, special education and those on free and reduced lunch all saw increases in literacy scores from last year.
Some of the reasons Jenner attributes the continued growth seen in the IREAD scores is the administering of the test in the second grade, which enables teachers to catch struggling students sooner. She also attributed it to the state’s literacy cadre program, which helps pay for a literacy coach to be embedded in schools to help teachers learn the science of reading.
Data around how many third graders will have to be held back due to Indiana’s new retention law connected to passing IREAD won’t be released until later this fall, Jenner said.
ILEARN results for 2026
The 2025-26 school year was the first time all schools and all grade three through eight students participated in the new version of ILEARN — three interim tests and one cumulative exam during the academic year.
This year’s results will now constitute the state’s new “baseline” when it comes to comparing year-over-year growth for the test.
The test is also given in person and electronically, and cannot be compared to nationwide assessments or other state assessments.
In previous years, the state released school-specific data for ILEARN results when announcing the statewide results, but since new cut scores had to be set this month, the state is releasing the specific data in September.
For this upcoming school year, the state plans to roll out new real-time reports that will be sent to parents at least four times per year and provide detailed data on where a student is in meeting the state standards.
High School SAT results for 2026
State leaders also shared how high school students performed on the SAT, which fulfills a required college entrance exam set by lawmakers. The assessment includes math, reading and writing sections.
Students getting a passing score for reading and writing on the SAT dropped by 2.6 percentage points from last year's scores, now at 51.9% passing.
Those who passed the test’s math portion virtually stayed the same, with 25.6% passing this year compared to 25.4% passing last year.
New school letter grades to come
This year’s ILEARN and IREAD scores will be pivotal for school districts this year since they will be used in the state’s new formula designed to grade schools on how well they’re serving students.
Later this year, the state is expected to hand out new A-to-F grades for schools. The new grading model is meant to emphasize what students accomplish rather than penalizing schools for what they don't.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
