'It's a crisis.' ILEARN scores show deep racial, academic divides in Marion County

Fewer than 3 in 10 Marion County public school students passed Indiana’s latest ILEARN exam, underscoring wide and persistent gaps by race and district.

Countywide, just 26% of third through eighth graders in district and charter schools passed the English Language Arts section — a drop of more than 2 percentage points from last year, a WFYI analysis found. Math scores were similarly low, with 27.4% of students proficient.

“It’s a crisis for Marion County,” said David Greene, president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis. “We’re so far behind. We need a significant jump, and that jump will not happen within the current structure we have right now.”

Greene said the county’s long-standing gaps stem from structural inequities in funding, class size and early education access.

Indiana just limited available seats in its state-funded preschool program On My Way Pre-K, a voucher program that pays for 4-year-olds from low-income families to attend participating preschools. 

“If these children come to school in first grade and they’ve never been in a classroom, it’s going to be hard,” Greene said. In Indiana kindergarten is optional and state law doesn’t require children to attend school until age 7 — about the time most are beginning second grade.

ILEARN is the statewide growth assessment that measures English language arts, science, social studies and mathematics skills for students in grades three through eight. Overall, 40.6% of Indiana students were proficient in ELA and 42.1% in math.

Statewide, 12.8% of Black students and 18.2% of Hispanic students passed both the English and math sections, compared to 37.7% of White students. In many Marion County districts, Black and Hispanic students scored significantly lower than the statewide averages.
 

In Indianapolis Public Schools, only 5.8% of Black students and 8.2% of Hispanic students passed both sections, compared to 37.8% of White students.

IPS had one of the lowest overall proficiency rates, with just 20.8% of all students passing English Language Arts. In math, 21% were proficient.

IPS reconfigured grade levels and opened new middle schools last year through its Rebuilding Stronger overhaul, aiming to strengthen academic offerings.

MORE: ILEARN scores improve slightly for Indianapolis Public Schools, charters

“While there is still important work to be done, with even more focus needed in English Language Arts for older students, we are encouraged by the momentum we’re seeing — particularly in Math and among historically underserved student groups,” said IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson. “Our strategic initiatives, including Rebuilding Stronger and the substantial investments we’ve made in high-quality curriculum, are beginning to show measurable results.”

Other township districts also struggled. Fewer than 20% of students in Pike, Warren and Wayne townships passed the math portion of ILEARN. Warren Township had the lowest math proficiency at 18.3%.
 

For reading and English skills, Franklin Township (39.4%) and Washington Township (37.9%) were near state average. 

The School Town of Speedway had the highest proficiency rate in the county with 55.4% of students passing English and 61.2% passing math.

Achievement divides across districts

The test scores also highlight persistent disparities in academic achievement across race and ethnicity in Marion County district, despite years of local and state efforts to close them.

In Washington Township, White students outperformed Black and Hispanic students by more than 50 percentage points on the ILEARN math exam, and by similar margins in English Language Arts.

About 75% of White students in the district passed the math portion of the test, compared to 23% of Black students and 24% of Hispanic students, according to state data. 

A spokesperson for Washington Township did not respond to a request for comment.

Lawrence Township posted similar disparities. White students passed the English test at 59% and 57% passed math, while fewer than 21% of Black and Hispanic students passed either subject.

Franklin Township, a district on the city’s southeast side, had slightly smaller but still significant gaps: In math, 51% of White students were proficient, while 24% of Black students and 31% of Hispanic students passed.

WFYI education reporter Sydney Dauphinais covers Marion County schools. Contact her at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.

Eric Weddle is WFYI's education team editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.