INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Department of Education released their 2021-2022 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3) results on Wednesday, August 10.

The results indicated 1 in every 5 Indiana third graders have not mastered foundational reading skills.

The IREAD-3 assessment, typically given to third graders in Indiana, was offered to second graders during the 2021-2022 school year. Of the nearly 400 elementary schools in Indiana that participated 62% of 20,000 second grade students passed or are on track to pass next year.

Offering the test to second graders was to gain an earlier indication of whether students are on track with reading.

Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner said in the press release, “We know that students first learn to read, and then they read to learn.”

Jenner said data shows a fundamental link between how students read at the end of third grade and their future learning.

Overall 81.6 percent of Indiana’s third graders did demonstrate excellent reading skills. The results did show an improvement from 2020-2021 school year, but the average remains 5.7 percent below the pre-pandemic rates of of the 2018-2019 school year.