(Indianapolis, IN) – Third-grade literacy in Indiana has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, fueled by a fifth consecutive year of academic gains on the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment.
Following a historic jump last year, scores once again increased in 2026 —climbing 7.5 percentage points since 2021.
The Indiana Department of Education says with 88.7% of students now reading by the end of third grade, literacy rates around the state have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
That’s an improvement of nearly 1.5 percentage points over results for the 2024-25 school year – the second largest single year increase since the assessment began.
“After historic gains last year, seeing these results increase again for the fifth consecutive year is truly remarkable,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “Our educators, parents, and students should be extremely proud of the results they’ve accomplished together. In Indiana, our foot will remain on the gas pedal when it comes to continuously improving for students.”
For the second year, all second grade students participated in the IREAD assessment – a tactic that has already proven successful at providing educators and families an early indicator of whether a student is on-track to read by the end of third grade.
In 2026, the percentage of second grade students who Passed or were On-Track to pass by the end of third grade increased to 69%, with a significantly larger percentage of students passing compared to 2025.
Another tactical solution continuing to show signs of success is the Indiana Literacy Cadre, a partnership between the State of Indiana, the University of Indianapolis’s Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL), and Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools.
To date, about 770 schools have participated in the Literacy Cadre, providing their early elementary teachers with embedded instructional coaching and support aligned with science of reading.
Third grade results from local school corporations can be found below:
School Corporation IREAD Pass IREAD Test IREAD Pass %
Sunman-Dearborn 260 266 97.7%
Decatur County 135 145 93.1%
Greensburg 143 149 96%
Franklin County 137 152 90.1%
Batesville 168 170 98.9%
Jac-Cen-Del 47 52 90.4%
Milan 82 88 93.2%
