Indiana

Press Release

February 11, 2025

Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342

Indiana Ranked 35th Among States in Math Recovery and 6th in Reading Between 2019 and 2024

Students in Indiana remain an average of half a grade level behind 2019 levels in math and over a quarter of a grade level behind in reading.

Reading and math are both concerns in Indiana, as 93% percent of students are in districts whose average math achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels and 88% are in districts whose average reading achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels.

(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.

The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where Indiana students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout Indiana. Here’s what we found:

Indiana ranked 35th among states in terms of recovery in math and 6th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
Students in Indiana remain an average of half a grade level behind 2019 levels in math (.54 grade equivalents) and over a quarter of a grade level behind in reading (.28 grade level equivalents. In other words, the loss in math achievement in Indiana is greater than 50 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8.
The average student in some districts, such as Metropolitan School District Pike Township and School City of Hammond, remains more than a 1.5 grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math. The average student in Metropolitan School District Lawrence Township, Metropolitan School District Washington Township, Metropolitan School District Pike Township, Metropolitan School District Wayne Township, and the School City of Hammond remain around a grade level or more below 2019 levels in reading.
Reading and math are both concerns in Indiana, as 93% percent of students are in districts whose average math achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels and 88% are in districts whose average reading achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels. Nationally, 85 percent of students are in districts below 2019 levels in math, with only 15 percent above. Similarly, 89 percent of students are in districts below 2019 levels in reading, with only 11 percent above. Yet, unlike many states, Indiana saw small but positive growth in both math (.01 grade equivalents) and reading (.12 grade equivalents) between 2022-2024.
There are other bright spots: mean achievement for students has nearly recovered to 2019 levels in districts like New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools (in math) and Hamilton Southeastern (in reading).
A sharp rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10 percent of a school year) from 12 percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 21 percent in 2022 (down to 19% in 2024) is slowing the recovery in many districts in Indiana.
Indiana received $3 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $2,900 per student—which is less than the national average of $3,700 per student. Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.

The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many Indiana schools. Even without federal relief dollars, states could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective, such as tutoring and summer learning. State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.

One of the project leaders, economist Tom Kane at Harvard, said: “Lowering absenteeism generates tremendous bang-for-the-buck. Regular attendance benefits the student as well as her classmates. And taxpayers are paying for the seat whether it’s occupied or not.”

For the national press release and findings click here.

About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.

Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342

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