US EditionRoughly 3,000 Indiana Third-Graders Held Back Due to Reading Proficiency Law
About 3.6% of Indiana third graders failed to meet reading standards on the IREAD exam, resulting in retention under a 2024 law aimed at improving literacy.
- On Nov. 5, 2025, the Indiana Department of Education released data showing about 3,040 third graders are repeating third grade, representing 3.6% of more than 84,000 students tested on the IREAD exam.
- Under a 2024 law, third graders who don’t pass the IREAD exam and lack exemptions are retained, marking the first enforcement of the Indiana Legislature’s effort to address literacy decline since 2013.
- About 6,950 students received Good Cause Exemptions to advance, with roughly 75% special education students and 24% English language learners; 673 students who didn’t pass IREAD were not enrolled this year.
- Retained students will receive additional support and tutoring and may attend summer school, while summer tutoring programs cover grades one through nine across 37 cities with a 25% increase in performance.
- Officials acknowledged data gaps and said further analysis is needed as parents expressed strain and demographic breakdowns of retained students were not immediately available.
15 Articles
15 Articles
3K Indiana Students Repeat for Not Passing IREAD
(Statewide) – About 3,000 Indiana students are repeating third grade this school year for not meeting the state’s reading proficiency standards. Data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education showed 3.6% of the 84,000 children who took the statewide IREAD exam were retained in third grade under the first enforcement of a requirement approved by the Legislature in 2024. Those 3,040 retained students is more than seven times the 412
Fox 59 Indianapolis
Roughly 3,000 Indiana third-graders held back due to reading proficiency law
INDIANAPOLIS — According to new data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), roughly 3,000 students were held back this year after failing the state’s IREAD assessment. “(It’s) a lot better than what we initially thought,” IDOE Secretary Katie Jenner said. “We’ll be watching those students very closely to make sure they are, indeed, reading by the end of third grade. That is the key point in time so that they can read t…
wibc.com
106.7 WTLCNew State Rule Holds Back 3,000 Third Graders
Source: Indiana Capital Chronicle / Indiana Capital Chronicle STATEWIDE — About 3,000 Indiana students are repeating third grade this school year for not meeting the state’s reading proficiency standards. Data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education showed 3.6% of the 84,000 children who took the statewide IREAD exam were retained in third grade under the first enforcement of a requirement approved by the Legislature in 2024. T…
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