Indiana Literacy Rates Increase for Fifth Consecutive Year

Local school corporation's reported strong pass rates

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INDIANAPOLIS - For the fifth consecutive year, literacy rates have improved among Hoosier students. 

Following a historic jump last year, scores once again increased in 2026 with nearly 89 percent of students demonstrating proficient reading skills on the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment. 

This is an improvement of nearly 1.5 percentage points over results for the 2024-2025 school year, the second-largest single-year increase since the assessment began. 

Since 2021, reading proficiency rates have climbed 7.5 percentage points.

“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."

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. To date, approximately 770 schools have participated in the Literacy Cadre, providing their early elementary teachers with embedded instructional coaching and support aligned with science of reading.

See how third grade students from local school corporations fared in the table below.