Slight growth in ILEARN scores across Michiana. Educators say it could take years to return to pre-pandemic scores

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The 2023 ILEARN results are in showing slight progress for students across Indiana.

However, educators say there is still much more work to be done before reaching pre-pandemic scores.

“We knew from experts across the country and even across the world. It's significant. It's real. It will take years to even get past that starting point,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, the Indiana Secretary of Education.

Out of the 99% of 3rd through 8th grade Hoosiers, only about 3 in 10 passed both the reading and math portions. School districts across Michiana, including South Bend, Mishawaka and Elkhart, had even less than that.

"Looking now at these scores, it's not just proficiency and growth, it's looking at recovery," said Dr. Caity Stockstell, Director of Teaching and Learning for Mishawaka Schools. "We know the pandemic affected students and different groups of students in different ways, so we really need to keep that in mind. We're dealing with something we've never dealt with before, so we're looking at where they would have been under normal conditions and how far are they from those results."  

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation scored nearly 20% higher than the average.

“We’re really extremely proud of our students for their amazing work, worked hard and scored well, they scored in the top 5% of Indiana,” said PHM Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, who credited the teachers in the district with helping students succeed.

However, Dr. Thacker says there is still more to be done to reach pre-pandemic scores and their goal of all students scoring proficient.

And while Dr. Jenner believes ILearn is an important tool, there is more to the story than the numbers. She said not to compare to other state school districts as the testing is completely different but that you should seek tutoring if your student is struggling.

If your student did not meet their goals on the ILearn, you may qualify for an up to $1,000 tutoring grant to help them not fall further behind from the time lost from the pandemic.

More information on that can be found here.