Indianapolis Public Schools reports improvement in ILEARN scores, offering free tutoring

INDIANAPOLIS — Students at Indianapolis Public Schools have shown improvement in standardized test scores and those scores are at or near pre-pandemic levels.

In the ILEARN report released July 13, the data shows that about 22.3% of the district’s third through eighth graders (at IPS in-LEA schools) tested this spring were proficient in English Language Arts (ELA), an increase from 18.5% in 2021. The rate was 22 % in 2019.

About 19.5% of IPS third through eighth graders were proficient in math in 2022, an increase from 13.7% in 2021. The rate was 21.2 % in 2019.

The percentage of IPS students passing both tests improved to 14.1% in 2022 from 10% in 2021. In 2019, the rate was 13.8%.

“Like every school in Indiana, we suffered a drop off when students shifted to learning online,” said Dr. Warren Morgan, IPS’s chief academic officer, in a news release. “At that point, we began instituting a district support system, including unified high-quality curriculum and supplemental learning materials that focus on providing students with additional practice to ensure that learning and understanding are achieved."

Results for the spring 2022 ILEARN exam from the Indiana Department of Education show the statewide percentage of students meeting their grade expectations for math climbing to 39.4% from 2021′s 36.9%. The English proficiency levels rose to 41.2%, up from last year’s 40.5%.

ILEARN was first implemented in 2019 to replace the state's ISTEP exam for students from third to eighth grade. The state did not test students in 2020 because of COVID-19-related school shutdowns.

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This fall, IPS will offer free virtual tutoring to students at district-managed schools.

Students can meet with tutors twice a week for one hour in the afternoons free of charge. Interested IPS parents can register their children online by August 5. The program is scheduled to launch September 12.