Boone County lawmakers are commending a historic increase in third grade literacy rates for Hoosier students following results from the 2024-2025 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment.
State Rep. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville), a member of the House Education Committee, said third grade reading scores improved by nearly five percentage points, which is the largest single-year increase since Indiana launched IREAD in 2013. More than 87% of Hoosier third graders demonstrated proficiency in reading, putting Indiana’s literacy rate at this grade level back to pre-pandemic levels.
The lawmakers thanked Indiana’s education leaders, schools, teachers and families for their dedication to help Indiana students achieve these results.
“Reading is a foundation for learning and growing, and to see these rates increase is encouraging,” Cash said. “While this is not a sign we should slow down efforts, it is a great indication that our classrooms and our state are heading in the right direction.”
State Rep. Hunter Smith (R-Zionsville), a member of the House Education Committee, noted that literacy rates for all student populations also improved.
“It’s great to see our IREAD scores moving in the right direction and Hoosier students getting back on track academically,” Smith said. “All of the hard work by our teachers, students and families is paying off.”
State Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) said these IREAD results follow Indiana placing sixth in the country for fourth and eighth grade reading in the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) rankings.
“Too many Hoosier students were falling behind on this fundamental part of learning,” Thompson said. “It’s gratifying to see what can be accomplished when people work together on a common goal, and I hope we can continue this progress in other areas of our academic curriculum.”
State Rep. Mark Genda (R-Frankfort) said to improve Indiana’s literacy rates, the General Assembly passed a law in 2023 implementing science of reading standards, which is evidence-based instruction that increases students’ reading competency through phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency, oral language skills and comprehension. A law passed in 2024 added screenings for students at risk of falling behind on reading proficiency and providing earlier intervention.
“Reading scores are steadily improving thanks to the efforts of teachers and students,” Genda said. “Indiana is dedicated to improving our literacy rates and we will continue discussing new ways to keep kids engaged in reading.”
Results from the 2025 IREAD for individual schools and corporations are available on the Indiana Department of Education’s website. Click here to learn more about the state’s literacy standards.