Indiana ILEARN testing reveals mixed results post-pandemic

INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - A new report on education in Indiana finds that some progress has been made for students adjusting to learning post-pandemic.

Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) officials met Wednesday to talk about this year’s ILEARN results.

They said learning is stabilizing and improving for many students, but interventions are still needed to keep the momentum.

“Be courageous and really try to go some good work for kids, or we can nimble around the edges,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, who is Secretary of Education for Indiana.

Data shows a slight gain in math across all grade levels.

This year, 40.9 percent of Indiana’s students are at or above proficiency standards, jumping 1.5 percent since last year.

Data also shows stable scores in English and language arts.

About 40.7 percent of students are at or above proficiency standards dropping half a percent from last year.

Educators at School City of Mishawaka said results are what they predicted.

“The results are encouraging. The results are what we predicted. We use tests throughout the year to track progress of our students, the impact of our teaching, and also pinpoint where we have students that have more need...And so, across the board in math we saw about a two percent increase. ELA we saw about a one percent increase...You have to remember that growth is not typically measured in leaps and bounds in ILEARN. Rather, it’s incremental, steady progress,” said Dr. Caity Stockstell, who is the Director of Teaching and Learning at School City of Mishawaka.

The corporation and state officials said there is still a long way to go.

“We knew that experts were projecting years in recovery time, and yet, the urgency is real, and requires us all to keep our foot on the gas pedal,” they said.

School City of Mishawaka now offers a tutoring program for fourth and fifth grade students, called Indiana Learns.

“Our fourth grade students grew nine percent in math, and so this was something truly to celebrate not only the good work we are doing in the classroom, but what the tutoring did to support these learners,” said Stockstell.

State officials are encouraging schools to continue working with parents, families and community partners to provide resources for students who need additional support.

If you would like to read the report findings, click here.